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the civilized world and through its doctrines men are gradually learning to be more and less unjust when we recollect the barbarous condition of humanity before the coming of christ barbarous interrupted the cardinal with half a smile you would hardly apply that term to the luxury loving of and or to the ancient of and rome they were said the but they were men and women replied and they too had immortal souls they were all more or less struggling towards the idea of good of course then as now that idea was overgrown by superstitious and but the working tendency of the whole universe being ever towards good not evil an impulse to press on in the right direction was always in the brain of man no matter how dimly felt primitive notions of honour were strange indeed nevertheless honour existed in the minds of the early in a vague sense though distorted out of shape and noblest meaning no we dare not take upon ourselves to assert that men were altogether barbarous before the coming of christ they were cruel and unjust certainly and alas they are cruel and unjust still eighteen hundred years of christian teaching have not these sins from any one of the entire mass you are a severe judge said the cardinal lifted his mild blue eyes protesting severe i god forbid that i should be severe presume to sit in judgment on any poor soul that my sympathy i do not judge simply feel feelings have for a long time i confess been sorrowful t sorrowful i and why because the impression has steadily gained up hat if our church were all it was originally the master christian be by its divine founder we should at this time have neither or and all the world would be gathered into the one fold under one shepherd but if we who are its ministers persist in occupying ourselves more with things than things spiritual we fail to perform our mission or to show the example required of us and we do not attract so much as we the very children of the present day are beginning to doubt our calling and election oh of course there are and always have been and said the and apparently there always will be and i venture to maintain that it is our fault that and continue to exist replied the cardinal if our divine faith were lived there would be no room for or the church itself supplies the for the s handsome face you me by such an expression he said raising his voice a little in the indignation he could scarcely conceal you talk pardon me as if you yourself were uncertain of the church s ability to withstand i speak but as i think answered the cardinal gently and i admit i am uncertain in the leading points of reed i am very convinced namely that christ was divine and that the following of his gospel is the saving of the immortal soul but if you ask me whether i think we do truly follow that gospel i must own that i have doubts upon the matter an elected favourite son of the church should surely have no doubts i said the ah there you come back to the beginning from which we started when i ventured to object to your term prince of the church according to our master all men should be equal before him therefore we in marking differences of rank or in questions of religion the very idea of rank is anti christian at this the began to look seriously annoyed i am afraid you are indulging in very ideas he said with impatience in fact i consider you altogether mistake your calling and position were the words which had reached the attentive ears of the children on their way up to bed and the master christian had caused to declare that the and the cardinal were quarrelling took the somewhat violent remark however with perfect possibly i may do so he responded we are all subject to error my calling as i take it is that of a servant of christ whose instructions for work are plainly set down in his own words it is for me to follow these instructions as literally and exactly as i can with regard to my position i am placed as the spiritual head of a very small where the people for the most part lead very innocent and harmless lives but i should be selfish and narrow in spirit if i allowed myself to limit my views to my own circle of influence my flock are mere in intellectual capacity and have no conception of the manner in which the larger tide of human events is flowing now and then one or two of the people grow weary of their quiet pastures and and being young hopeful and ardent start forth into the g eat world there to seek fairer fortunes sometimes they come back to their old homes far more frequently they never return but those who do come back are changed utterly i recognise no more the young men and maidens whom i confirmed in their faith and laid my hands on in blessing ere they forth to other lives and scenes the men are grown and worldly without a heart without a thought save for the gain or loss of gold the women are ruined he paused a moment the said nothing i love my people went on the cardinal no child is in our old cathedral without my praying for its future good without my hope that it may grow into that exquisite mingling of the divine and human which our lord taught us was the perfection of life and his desire to see fulfilled in those he called his | 33 |
own yes i love my people and when any of them go away from me and then return to the scenes of their childhood broken hearted i cannot meet them with reproach my own heart is half broken to see them thus cast down and their sorrows have compelled me naturally to on the sorrows of others to consider what it is in the world which thus the pure gold o innocence and life of its greatest charm for if i the master christian christ s spirit ruled us all then innocence should be held more sacred life should happiness i have studied read and thought long upon these matters so that i not only feel but know the truth of what i say brother and the cardinal strongly moved rose suddenly and confronted the with a passionate gesture my great grief is that the spirit of christ does not rule the world christ is being re by this generation and the church is looking on and silently permitting his second murder startled by the force of this expression the sprang up in his turn his lips parted as if to speak then his glance met the clear calm steadfast look of and he faltered his eyes drooped and his massive figure seemed for a moment to shrink with a sort of like an inspired the cardinal stood one hand outstretched his whole frame with the strong emotion which possessed him you know that what i say is true he continued in but no less intensely passionate accents you know that every day sees our master crowned with new thorns and exposed to fresh torture you know that we do nothing we stand beside him in his second agony as dumb as though we were unconscious of it you know that we might speak and will not i you know that we fear the of temporary and social more than the great real and terrible judgment of the world to come but all things have been said before began the recovering a little from the confusion that had seized him and as i just now observed you should remember that there have always been from the very beginning oh i remember and the cardinal sighed how is it possible that any of us should forget whom we have tortured with unheard of agonies and burned in the flames as a proof of our love and sympathy with the tenderness of christ you are going too far back in time said the quickly we in the beginning through excess of zeal but now now now we do exactly the same thing returned wc do not bum out but the master christian morally we condemn all who oppose us good men and brave whom in our we to eternal instead of endeavouring to draw out the heart of their mystery and gather up the gems of their learning as fresh proofs of the active presence of god s working in and through all things think of the c s invincible and overpowering obstinacy in the case of he declared the existence of god to us by the utterance of a truth inasmuch as every truth is a new message from god had he pronounced his theories before our divine master that master would have confirmed not denied them have we one single example of christ putting to the torture any poor soul that did not believe in him nay he himself submitted to be tortured but for those who wronged him his prayer was only father forgive them for they know not what they do they know not what they do the ministers of truth should rather suffer themselves than let others suffer the horrors of the are a blot on religious history our master never meant us to bum and torture men into faith he desired us to love and lead them into the way of life as the shepherd leads a flock into the fold i repeat again there would have been no room for if we we the servants of christ had been strictly true to our by this time the had recovered his he sat down and surveyed the up standing figure of the cardinal with curiosity and a touch of pity you think too much of these things he said soothingly you are evidently with study and excessive zeal much that you say may be true nevertheless the church our church stands firm among overwhelming and we its ministers do what we can i myself am disposed to think that the multitude of the saved is greater than the multitude of the lost i envy you the consolation such a thought must responded the cardinal as he resumed his seat opposite his visitor i on the contrary have the pained and bitter sense that we are to blame for all this multitude of the lost or at any rate that we could have done more in the way of rescue than we have done he paused a passing one hand across his forehead wearily in the master christian truth this is what has for a long time weighed upon my mind and depressed my spirits even to the of bodily health i am the grave and must soon give an account of my and the knowledge of the increasing growth of evil in the world is almost more than i can bear but you are not to blame said the in your own you have fulfilled your duty more than this is not expected of you you have done your best for the people you serve and reports of your and good works are not lacking do not credit such reports interrupted the cardinal almost sternly i have done nothing absolutely nothing my life has been too | 33 |
peaceful too many blessings have been bestowed upon me i much fear that the calm and quiet of my days have rendered me selfish i think i should long ago have sought some means of engaging in more active duties i feel as if i should have gone into the thick of the religious contest and spoken and fought and helped the sick and wounded of the mental battle but now now it is too late i nothing is too late for one in your position said the you may yet sit in st peter s chair god forbid ejaculated i would rather die i i have never wished to rule i have only sought to help and to comfort but sixty eight years of life weigh heavily on the faculties i cannot wear the sword and of energetic manhood i am old old i and to a certain extent for useful labour hence i almost grudge my time spent among simple folk time made sweet by all the surroundings of nature s pastoral loveliness the sorrow of the wider world at my heart and makes it ache i feel that i am one of those who stand by idly watching the master s second death without one word of protest the listened in silence there was a curious look upon his face as if some secret sin within himself had suddenly been laid bare in all its to the light of day the golden he wore moved with a certain agitated quickness s the master christian ing and he did not raise his eyes when after a little pause he said i tell you as i told you before that you think too much you arc altogether too sensitive i admit that at the present day the world is full of terrible and open but this is part of what we are always bound to expect we are told that we must for sake we said the cardinal yes we that is ourselves the church we think when we hear of and that it is we who are suffering for sake but in our we forget that we are not at all if we are able to retain our faith it is the very and whom we condemn that are absolute perchance for sake dare we call a righteous the is he not in his very accursed according to our lord no one is accursed save that is to say those who are not true if a man doubts it is better he should admit his doubt than make a pretence of belief the persons whom we call may have their conception of the truth they may say that they cannot accept a creed which is so ignorant of its own as to condemn all those who do not follow it inasmuch as the very founder of it distinctly says if any man hear my words and believe not i judge him not for i came not to judge the world but to save the world now we his followers judge but do not save the is judged by us but not rescued from his the is condemned the who the beauty and wisdom of god as made manifest in the composition of the lightning or the of a flower is accused of destroying religion and we continue to pass our opinion and thunder our and of against our in the full front of the plain command judge not that ye be not judged i see it is no use arguing with you said the forcing a smile with a vexation the smile could not altogether conceal you are determined to take these sayings absolutely and to fret your spirit over the non oi imaginary duties which do not ex the master christian ist this church is a system founded on our lord s teaching but applied to the needs of modem civilization it is not possible to literally obey all christ s commands for the outside world i grant it may be difficult but for the ministers of religion however difficult it may be it should be done replied the cardinal firmly i said this before and i deliberately maintain it the church is a system but whether it is as much founded on the teaching of our lord who was divine as on the teaching of st paul who was not divine is a question to me of much perplexity st paul was directly inspired by our lord said the i am amazed that you should even hint a doubt of his i i do not st paul answered quietly he was a gifted and clever man but he was a man he was not god in man christ s doctrine leaves no place for st paul s method of applying that doctrine serves as authority for the establishment of any and every ever known i cannot agree with you said the coldly i do not expect to be agreed with and smiled a little an opinion which no opposition at all is not worth having i i am quite honest in my scruples such as they are i do not think we fit as you say the church system to the needs of modem civilization on the contrary we must fail in many ways to do this else there would not be such a crying out for help and comfort as there is at present among all christian we no longer speak with a grand certainty as we ought to do we only offer vague hopes and promises to those who thirst for the living waters of salvation and immortality it is as if we did not feel sure enough of god ourselves to make others sure all this is wrong | 33 |
wrong it heavy punishment and disaster if i were younger i could express perhaps my meaning more clearly but as it is my soul is with unutterable thoughts i would almost call them of some threatening evil and only this when i sat for an hour in the cathedral yonder and listened to the music of the great organ the master christian the started what did you say the cardinal repeated his words gently i said that i sat in the cathedral and listened to the music of the great organ the great organ interrupted the you must have been dreaming i you could not possibly have heard the great organ it is old and all out of gear it is never used the only one we have for service just now is a much smaller instrument in the choir chapel but no person could have played even on that without the key and the key was as the is absent from the town to day the cardinal looked completely bewildered are you quite sure of this he asked sure absolutely sure declared the with a smile no doubt you thought you heard music nerves often play these tricks upon us and it is owing to this same cause that you are weary and and that you take such a gloomy view of the social and religious outlook you are evidently out of health and but after you have had sufficient rest and change you will see things in quite a different aspect i will not for a moment believe that you could possibly be as as your conversation imply it would be a total of your true character and the laughed softly a total he repeated why yes of course it would be i no cardinal of holy mother church could bring such against its as you would have suggested unless he were afflicted by nervous depression which as we all know has the uncomfortable effect of creating darkness even where all is light do you stay long in no replied the cardinal answering the question mechanically though his thoughts were far away i leave for paris to morrow for paris and then i go to rome with my niece she is in paris awaiting my arrival now ah you must be very proud of your niece murmured the softly she is famous very where a great artist a wonderful genius i the master christian well yes said the cardinal quietly but she has still a great deal to learn and she is unfortunately much more alone now than she used to be her mother s death last year was a terrible blow to her her mother was your sister my only sister answered the cardinal a good sweet woman i may her soul rest in peace i her character was never spoilt by the social life she was compelled to lead my brother in law prince kept open house and all the gay world of rome was accustomed to flock thither but now since he has lost his wife things have changed very much sadness has taken the place of mirth and is very solitary is she not to the celebrated a fleeting shadow of pain darkened the cardinal s clear eyes yes but she sees very little of him you know the of roman etiquette in such matters she sees little and sometimes so i think knows less however i hope all will be well but my niece is over sensitive brilliantly endowed and ambitious at times i have fears for her future depression again declared the rising and preparing to take his leave believe me the world is full of excellence when we look upon it with clear eyes things are never as bad as they seem to my thinking you are the last man alive who should indulge in melancholy you have led a peaceful and happy life with the reputation of many good deeds and you are generally beloved by the people of whom you have charge then though is your appointed lot heaven has given you a niece as dear to you as any child of your own could be who has won a pre eminent place among the world s great artists and is moreover endowed with beauty and distinction what more can you desire he smiled as he spoke the cardinal looked at him i desire nothing he answered i never have desired anything i i told you before that i consider i have received many more blessings than i deserve it is not any personal grief which at present troubles me it is the master christian something beyond myself it is a sense of wrong an appeal for truth a cry from those who are lost in the world the lost whom the church might have saved merely fancy said the cheerily like the music in the cathedral do not permit your imagination to get the better of you in such matters when you return from rome i shall be glad to see you if you happen to come through on your way back to your own people i trust you will so far honour me i know nothing of my future movements answered the cardinal gently but if i should again visit i will certainly let you know and will if you desire it accept your friendly hospitality with this the two shook hands and the took his leave as he picked his way carefully down the rough stairs and along the dingy little passage of the hotel he was met by holding a lighted candle above his head to show him the way it is dark said it is very dark agreed stumbling as | 33 |
though the whole world were suddenly emptied of life and left like a hollow shell on the shores of time gradually this first sense of utter and unspeakable loss changed into a startled conscious ness of fear some awful of things fa was about to be and he felt the distinct approach of some horror which was about to and all mankind then in his dream a great mist rose up before his eyes mingling as of sea fog and sun flame and as this in turn slowly cleared itself in of golden grey he k und himself standing on the edge of a vast sea glittering in a light that was neither of earth nor of heaven but that seemed to be the inward reflection of millions of flashing sword blades and as he stood gazing across the width of the waters the sky above him grew black and a huge ring of fire rose out of the east instead of the beloved and familiar sun fire that spread itself in torrents of flame upward and downward and began to in its devouring heat the very sea then came a sound of many mingled with the roar of rising waters and the of a great and out of the came a voice saying now is the end of all things on the earth and the whole world shall be op as a dead leaf in a sudden flame i and we will create from out its ashes new heavens and a new earth and we the master christian will call forth new beings wherewith to people the of our fresh creation for the present generation of mankind hath rejected god and god henceforth his and unworthy creatures wherefore let now this one dim light amid the thousand million brighter lights be let the planet known to all angels as the sorrowful star fall from its sphere forever let the sun that hath given it warmth and nourishment be now its chief and let everything that hath life within it perish utterly and revive no more and cardinal heard these words of doom powerless to move or speak he stood watching the terrible circle of fire extend and till all the visible seemed melting in one red furnace of flame and in himself he felt no hope no chance of rescue in himself he knew that the appalling work of destruction was being accomplished with a deadly swiftness that left no time for that the nations of the world were as flying swept into the burning without space or moment for a parting prayer or groan tortured by an agony too great for tears he suddenly found voice and lifting his face towards the lurid sky he cried aloud god of eternity stay thy hand for one remaining cause be merciful doom not thy creature man to utter destruction but still remember that thou bom even as he as helpless as wronged as tempted as betrayed as as prone to pain and death thou hast lived his life and endured his sorrows though in the perfect glory of thy thou hast not have patience yet oh thou great splendour of all worlds have patience yet thou outraged and creator break once again thy silence as of old and speak to us pity us once again ere thou us utterly come to us even as thou in and surely we will receive thee and obey thee and reject thy love no more as he thus prayed he was seized with a fear for suddenly the red and glowing chaos of fire above him changed into soft skies tinged with the exquisite pearl grey hues of twilight and he became conscious of the approach of a great invisible presence whose awful unseen beauty overwhelmed him with its and the master christian majesty causing him to forget altogether that he himself existed and spoke in grave sweet accents so soft and close to him that the words seemed almost whispered in his ears thy prayer is heard and once again the silence shall be broken nevertheless remember that the light in darkness and the darkness it not deep silence followed the mysterious presence melted as it were into space and the cardinal awoke trembling violently and bathed in a cold perspiration he gazed around him his mind still confused and dazzled by the strong visionary impression of the burning heavens and sea and he could not for a moment realize where he was then after a while he recognised the humble furniture of the room he occupied and through the diamond shaped panes of the little window perceived the towers of dame now gleaming with a kind of rusty silver in the broader radiance of the fully uplifted moon it was a dream he murmured a dream of the end of the world he shuddered a little as he thought of the doom pronounced upon the earth the planet known to all angels as the sorrowful star let the sun that hath given it warmth and nourishment be now its chief according to modem such was indeed the precise way in which the world was destined to come to an end and could anything be more than the thought that the glorious the maker of day and of all beauty should be destined to from its shining centre death and destruction upon the planet it had from creation and warmed the vision had shown the ring of fire rising from that very quarter of the heavens where the sun should have been beaming and as dwelt upon the picture in his mind and remembered his own wild prayer to the eternal a great uneasiness and dread overwhelmed him god s laws can never be altered he said aloud every | 33 |
evil deed brings its own punishment and if the world s wickedness becomes too great an offence in the eyes of almighty it follows that the d mv y i the master christian what am i that i should pray against divine justice for truly we have had our chance of rescue and salvation the way the truth and the life have been ven to us through christ our and if we reject him we reject all and we have but ourselves to blame at that moment a plaintive wailing as of some human creature in distress broke on his ears through the deep silence of the night he listened attentively and the sorrowful sound was repeated a desolate yet gentle cry as of some sick and suffering child moved by a sudden impulse the cardinal rose and going to the window looked anxiously out and down into the street below not a living creature was to be seen the moonlight spread itself in a vast silver glory over the whole width of the square and the delicate of the great rose window of the cathedral suspended between the two tall towers looked in the fine pale radiance like a giant spider s web sparkling with fairy dew again again that weary sobbing cry it went to the cardinal s heart and stirred him to singular pain and pity surely it is some lost or starving creature he said some poor soul seeking comfort in a world hastily throwing on his garments he left his room treading cautiously in order not to disturb the sleeping household and feeling his way down the short dark staircase he easily reached the door and passed noiselessly out into the square walking a few steps hurriedly he paused once more listening the night was intensely calm not a cloud crossed the star violet dome of air wherein the moon serenely bathing all visible things in a brilliancy so pure and that the finest on the gigantic grey of dame could be discerned and as distinctly as though every little portion were seen through a glass the cardinal s tall figure standing alone and almost in the centre of the square cast a long thin black shadow on the glistening grey stones and his dream impression of an empty world came back forcibly upon him a world as empty as a hollow shell houses there were around him and streets and a noble edifice consecrated to the worship of there was a sense of absolute i the master christian tion in and through all was not the itself the mere of a religion the seed had dropped out and sunk into the soil among thorns and stony places indeed and some by ie to be devoured by birds of prey darker and heavier grew the cloud of depression on the cardinal s soul and more and more passionate became the protest which had for a long time been in him for utterance the protest of a against the church he served it was terrible and to a prince of the roman church hideous and unnatural nevertheless the protest existed and it had in some unaccountable way grown to be more a part of him than he himself realized the world is empty because god is leaving it he said sorrowfully raising his eyes to the tranquil heavens and the joy of existence is departing because the divine and holy spirit of things is being withdrawn he moved on a few paces and once more through the deep stillness the little sobbing cry of sorrow was to his ears it came or seemed to come from the cathedral and his steps he went thither the deeply full of black shadows at first showed nothing but its own outlines then all at once the cardinal perceived standing within the darkness the slight shrinking figure of a child a boy s desolate little figure with uplifted hands clasped and laid against the shut cathedral door and face hidden and pressed hard upon those hands as though in mute and despair as the cardinal softly drew nearer a long shuddering sigh from the solitary little creature moved his heart anew to pity and speaking in accents of the utmost gentleness he said my poor child what troubles you why are you here all alone and weeping at this late hour have you no home no parents slowly the boy turned round still resting his small delicate hands against the door of the cathedral and with the tears yet wet upon his cheeks smiled what a sad face he had i worn and weary yet beautiful what eyes heavy with the of sorrow yet tender even in paint startled by the mingled purity and grief of so young a countenance the retreated for a mo a i e master christian ment in then approaching more closely he repeated his former question with increased interest and tenderness why are you weeping here alone because i am left alone to weep said the boy answering in a soft voice of and musical melancholy for me the world is empty an empty world his dream impression of universal desolation and desertion came suddenly back upon the s mind and a sudden trembling seized him though he could discover in himself no cause for fear anxiously he surveyed the strange and solitary little on the threshold of the cathedral and while he thus looked the boy said wistfully i should have rested here within but it is closed against me the doors are always locked at night my child returned the cardinal recovering from his momentary stupor and bewilderment but i can give you shelter will you come with me with a half questioning half smiling look of grateful wonder the boy withdrew his hands from | 33 |
their uplifted and almost protesting attitude against the locked cathedral door and moving out of the porch shadows into the wide glory of the moonlight he confronted his will i come with you lie said nay but i see you are a cardinal of the church and it is i should ask will you receive me you do not know who i am nor where i came from and i alas may not tell you i am alone all all alone for no one knows me in the world i am quite poor and and have nothing wherewith to pay you for your kindly shelter can only bless you very simply very gravely the young boy spoke these words his delicate head uplifted his face shining in the moon rays and his slight childish form erect with a grace which was not born of pride so much as of endurance and again the cardinal trembled though he knew not why yet in his very agitation the desire he had to persuade the tired child to go with him grew stronger and every other feeling come then he said smiling and extending his hand the master christian come and you shall in my room for the remainder of the night and to morrow we will talk of the future at present you need repose the boy smiled gratefully but said nothing and the cardinal satisfied with the mere look of assent walked with his across the square and into the hotel arrived at his own bed room he smoothed his couch and settled the pillows carefully with active zeal and tenderness the boy stood silently looking on sleep now my child said the cardinal and forget all your troubles lie down here no one will disturb you till the morning but you my lord cardinal said the boy are you yourself of comfort in order to give it to me this is not the way of the world it is my way said the cardinal cheerfully and if the world has been unkind to you my boy still take courage it will not always be unjust do not trouble yourself concerning me i shall sleep well on the sofa in the next room indeed i shall sleep all the better for knowing that your tears have ceased and that for the present at least you are safely sheltered with a sudden quick movement the boy advanced and caught the cardinal s hands in his own oh are you sure you understand he said his voice growing singularly sweet and almost tender as he spoke are you sure that it is well for you to shelter me i a stranger poor and with no one to speak for me how do you know what i may be shall i not perhaps prove ungrateful and wrong your kindness his worn little face shone in the dingy little room with a sudden brightness such as one might imagine would the features of an angel and looked down upon him half fascinated in mingled pity and wonder such results are with god my child he said gently i do not seek your gratitude it is certainly well for me that i should shelter you it would be ill indeed if i permitted any living creature to suffer for lack of what i could give rest here in peace and remember it is for my own pleasure as well as for your good that i desire you to sleep well and you do not even ask my name said ba the master christian half smiling and still raising his sorrowful deep blue eyes to the cardinal s face you will tell me that when you please said laying one hand upon the soft curls that clustered over his s forehead i am in no wise curious it is enough for me to know that you are a child and alone in the world such sorrow makes me your servant gently the boy loosened his clasp of the cardinal s hands then i have found a friend he said that is very strange he paused and the smile that had once before brightened his countenance shone again like a veritable flash of sunlight you have the right to know my name and if you choose to call me by it it is i echoed the cardinal no more than that no more than that replied the boy gravely i am one of the world s and one name me there followed a brief pause in which the old man and the child looked at each other full and and once again an inexplicable nervous trembling seized the cardinal this with an effort he said softly then good night i our lady s blessing be upon you the cross in air he retired carefully shutting the door and leaving his new found charge to rest when he was once by himself in the next room however he made no attempt to sleep he merely drew a chair to the window and sat down full of thoughts which utterly absorbed him there was nothing unusual surely in his finding a small lost boy and giving him a night s lodging then why was he so by it he could not tell he fully realized that the plaintive beauty of the child had its share in the powerful attraction he felt but there was something else in the nature of his emotion which he found it impossible to define it was as though some great in his life had been suddenly filled as if the boy whom he had found solitary and weeping within the porch of the cathedral of dame belonged to him in some mysterious way and was linked to his life the master christian | 33 |
io closely and completely as to make parting impossible but what a fantastic notion viewed by the light of calm reason there was nothing in the occurrence to give rise to any such sentiment here was a poor little evidently without parents home or friends and the cardinal had given him a night s lodging and tomorrow yes to morrow he would give him food and warm clothing and money and perhaps a recommendation to the in order that he might get a chance of free education and employment in while proper were being made about him that was the and commonplace view to take of the matter the personality of the little fellow was intensely winning but after all that had nothing to do with the facts of the case he was a and stray as he himself had said his name so far as he seemed to know it was an ordinary name enough in france and his age might be about twelve not more something could be done for him something should be done for him before the cardinal parted with him but thi s idea of parting was just what seemed so difficult to contemplate puzzled beyond measure at the strange state of mind in which he found himself went over and over again all the events of the day in order his arrival in his visit to the cathedral and grand music he had heard or fancied he heard there his experience with the little children and their mother his conversation with the in which he had felt much more excitement than he was willing to admit his dream wherein he had been so painfully impressed with a sense of the desertion and end of the world and finally his discovery of the little lonely and apparently forsaken boy thrown as it were against the closed cathedral like a frail human wreck cast up from the gulf of the devouring sea each incident trivial in itself yet seemed of particular importance though he could not explain or why it should be so he sat and watched the moon sink like a silver falling downward in the dark the vanished one by one and a faint brown gold line of suggestive light in the cast began the slow creation of a yet invisible present yielding to a vague impulse of ea the master christian tenderness he rose softly and went to the threshold of the room where his slept holding his breath he listened but there was no sound very cautiously and noiselessly he opened the door and looked in a delicate half light came through the window and seemed to itself on the bed where the tired wanderer lay his fine youthful was distinctly the soft bright hair clustered like a round his broad brows and the two small hands were crossed upon his breast while in his sleep he smiled always touched by the beauty innocence and helplessness of childhood something in the aspect of this little lad moved the venerable s heart to an unwonted emotion and looking upon him he prayed for guidance as to what he should best do to rescue so gentle and young a creature from the of the world he has trusted me said the cardinal i have found him and i cannot dare not him for the master says shall receive one such little child in my name v the next morning broke fair and calm and as soon as the household were cardinal sought madame in her kitchen and related to her the story of his night s adventure she listened but could not refrain from occasional exclamations of surprise mingled with suggestions of warning it is like your good heart she said to give your own bed to a stray child out of the street one too of whom you know nothing but alas i how often such goodness is repaid by ingratitude the more charity you show the less you receive yes indeed it is often so and it seems as if the evil one were in it for look you i myself have never done a kindness yet without getting a cruelty in exchange for it that is a sad experience my daughter returned the cardinal smiling nevertheless it is our duty to go on doing no matter what the results to ourselves may be it is understood is it not that we are to be in this world if we had nothing to suffer what would be the use of such virtues as patience and ah for you it is different said madame shaking her head and sighing you are like the blessed saints safe in a of holy church with our lady for ever looking after you but for poor people such as we are we see the rough side of life and we know that there is very little goodness about in the world and as for patience and endurance why no one in these days has the patience to endure even the least contradiction two men aye even brothers will fight for a word like quarrelling over a bone and two women will scream themselves hoarse if one should have a lover more than the other asking your pardon for such wicked talk still wicked as it may be it is true and not all the powers of heaven seem to care about making thin ik o the master christian better and for this boy believe me you has better leave him to his own way for there will be no chance of getting such a poor little into the school unless his father and mother are known or unless will adopt him which is not likely | 33 |
for is full of misery and there are enough mouths to feed in most families and mon is that the child thus abruptly she broke oflf her speech utterly taken as she suddenly perceived the little standing before her poorly clad in the garments as he was his grace and plaintive beauty moved her heart to quick compassion for his loneliness as he came towards the cardinal who extending one hand drew him gently to his side and asked if he had slept well thanks to your goodness my lord cardinal the boy replied i slept so well that i thought i was in heaven i heard the angels singing in my dreams yes i heard all the music of a happy world in which there never had been known a sin or sorrow he rested his fair head lightly against the cardinal s arm and smiled madame gazed at him in fascinated silence gazed and gazed till she found her eyes suddenly full of tears then she turned away to hide them but not before cardinal had observed her emotion well good mother he said with gentle emphasis on the word would you have me this child that i have found no no said madame very softly and ft is almost as if he were a little lost angel sent to comfort you a curious thrill went through the cardinal an angel to comfort him he looked down at who still clung to his arm and who met his earnest scrutiny with a sweet candid smile where did you come from asked suddenly i cannot tell you the boy answered yet simply the cardinal paused a moment his keen penetrating eyes dwelling kindly on the noble young face beside him you do not wish to tell me is that so he pursued yes said quietly i do not wish to tell the master christian i and if because of this you regret your kindness to me my lord cardinal i will go away at once and trouble you no more but at these words the cardinal felt such a sharp consciousness of pain and loss that his ner es ached with positive fear nay nay my child he said anxiously i cannot you go it shall be as you please i will not think that you could do yourself or me a wrong by concealing what would be right for you to tell it is true that you are alone in the world quite quite alone answered a faint shadow darkening the serenity of his eyes no one was ever more alone than i madame drew nearer and listened and there is no person living who has the right to claim you none and is it not strange murmured madame at this juncture the little lad does not speak as if he were ignorant it is as though he had been well taught and carefully s deep eyes dwelt upon her with a meditative sweetness i have taught myself he said simply not out of books perhaps but out of nature the trees and rivers the flowers and birds have talked to me and explained many things i have learned all i know from what god has told me his voice was so gentle and tender that madame was infinitely touched by its soft poor child she murmured he has no doubt been wandering through the country without a soul to help him alas that troubles should begin for one so young i perhaps he does not even know a prayer oh yes said quickly prayer is like thought god is so good that it is only natural to thank and praise him is it not so it should be natural my boy answered the cardinal slowly and with a slight accent of melancholy but for many of us in these days i fear it is more natural still to forget than to remember too often we take gifts and the but come now and breakfast in my the master room for the present you shall remain with me and i will see what can best be done for your future welfare and turning to madame he added you my daughter with children of your own to care for will no longer blame me for my interest in this child who is without protection in a somewhat rough world we of the church dare not offend one of these little ones ah murmured madame if all in the church were like you some poor folks would believe in god more willingly but when people are starving and miserable it is easy to understand that often they will curse the priests and even religion itself for making such a mock of them as to keep on telling them about the joys of heaven when they are tormented to the very day of their death on earth and are left without hope or rescue of any kind but the cardinal had disappeared with his young charge and madame s speech was lost upon him she had therefore to content herself with relating the story of s to her husband who just then came into the kitchen to take his breakfast before starting off to work in his market garden he listened with interest and attention a boy is always a trouble he said and it is likely that so will find it how old would the child be about twelve i should say answered madame but beautiful as a little angel i that s a pity and shook his head tis bad enough when a girl is beautiful but a boy i well well is a wise man and a saint they say he knows best but i fear he has taken a burden upon himself which he will very soon | 33 |
regret i what dost thou think of it madame hesitated a moment before replying truly i do not know what to think she answered for myself i have not spoken to the child i have seen him yes and at the sight of him a something in my throat rose up and choked me as it were and stopped me from saying a rough word such a lonely gentle lad one could not be harsh with him and jet he master christian yet oh yes i know said finishing his coffee at a and smiling women will always be women and a handsome face in girl or boy is enough to make fools of them all where are the children are they gone to school yes they went before the cardinal was up tis a saturday and they will be back early they are going to bring little to what for his round eyes opening widely in amazement oh for a strange fancy that he may bless the child and pray our lady to cure him of his it was s whim i told her the cardinal was a saint and she said well she said she would never believe it unless he worked a miracle i the wicked mischief that girl is as bad as who puts a doubt on everything tis the school said gloomily i must speak to truly that would be well said madame he may explain what we cannot all the same you may be sure the children will bring to they have made up their minds about it and if the little miserable s gets no better we shall have work enough in future to make the saints respected muttered something and went his way life was in his opinion a very excellent thing nevertheless there were a few details about it which occasionally troubled him and one of these details was decidedly the national education question it struck him as altogether remarkable that the state should force him to send his children to school whether he liked it or no and moreover that the system of instruction at the said school should be totally opposed to his own ideas he would have certainly wished his son to learn to read and write and then to have been trained as a thorough and gardener while for his daughter he also desired reading and writing as a matter of course and then a complete education in cooking and domestic economy so that she might be a useful and efficient wife and mother when the proper for such duties came be felt they could both do without and most of the religion ne considered an absolute tv the master christian and this was the very thing that was totally omitted from the national course of education he was well aware that there are countless numbers of unhappy people nowadays who despise religion and mock at the very idea of a god every day he saw certain works exposed for sale on the out of door which in their very titles proclaimed the hideous tone of which in france is gradually becoming universal this did not affect his own sense of what was right and just he was a very plain common man but he held holy things in reverence and instinctively felt that if the world were in truth a bad place it was likely to become much worse if all faith in god were taken out of it and when he reached his plot of ground that morning and set to work as usual he was for a non man very much absorbed in thought his heavy feet over the soil startled some little brown birds from their hidden nests and sent them flying to and fro through the clear air uttering sharp of terror and leaning on his he paused and looked at them everything is afraid he said birds beasts and men all are afraid of something and cannot tell what it is that them it seems hard sometimes that there should be so much trouble and struggle just to live however the good god knows best and if we could not think and hope and believe he knew best we might just as well light up a fire shut all the doors and windows and say bon bon le bon for if you do not know your business it is evident we do not know ours and therefore tis best for both our to make an end of sheer stupidity he chuckled at his own reasoning and his hands vigorously seized his and began to bank up a ridge of singing bon le bon under his breath without the slightest idea of and looking up at the bright sky occasionally he wished he had seen the stray boy rescued from the streets by cardinal that he will be a trouble there is no doubt he said as he turned and patted the rich dark earth never there a boy bom yet into the world that was not a the master christian trouble except our lord and even in his case his own people did not know what to make of him meantime while dug in his garden and sang and his two children and their school hours being ended had run off to the market and were talking with a big brown sturdy woman who was selling poultry at a stall under a very large patched red umbrella she was reported to have the worst temper and most tongue in all the town though there were some who said her of humour only arose from the hardships of her life and the many troubles she had been fated to endure her husband a fine handsome man earning good weekly wages as a stone had been killed | 33 |
feet tied helplessly together and shining like bits of dull gold in the warm light of the september sun she listened with an countenance while poured out her story of the great cardinal the cardinal whom people said was a saint how he had come unexpectedly to stay two nights at the hotel how had declared he was so good that even angels might visit him how kind and gentle and grand he seemed yes said somewhat eagerly there was no doubt that he looked good and we have told him all about and he has promised to bless him and ask our lord to cure his well and of what use is that demanded her knitting needles violently and stooping over her work to wink away the sudden tears that had risen in her bold brown eyes at s enthusiastic desire to benefit her afflicted child asking our lord is poor business you may ask and ask but you never get answered the master christian hung her curly brown head and looked at her brother now was a decided but his sister exercised a weird fascination over him a sort of power to command which he always felt more or less constrained to obey he stared solemnly at and then at the little who half rising from his mat had listened with a visibly painful interest to s story i think you might let us take and see if a cardinal can do anything he said with a kind of air as of one who though considering the case hopeless had no objection to try a last desperate remedy this one is a very old man and he must know a good deal he could not do any harm and i am sure would like to find out if there is any use at all in a cardinal i should like it too you see we went into dame i ist night and i and everything was dark all the candles were out at our lady s statue and we had only ten between us and the candles are ten each so we could only light one but we lit that one and said an ave for and the candle was all by itself in the cathedral and now i think we ought to take him to the cardinal shook her head up her lips and more violently than ever it is all no use no use she muttered there is no god or if there is he must be deaf as well as blind but here suddenly the weak plaintive voice of himself out oh mother let me looked down at him let thee go to see the cardinal why he is but an old man child as helpless as any of us what dost thou think he can do for thee nothing and the boy up on his and stood before his mother his fair curls blowing back in the breeze but i should like to see him oh do let me go caught him by the hand yes oh yes she let him come with us hesitated a moment longer but she could never altogether resist an imploring look in her boy s the master christian eyes or refuse any request he made of her and gradually the hard lines of her mouth relaxed into a half smile at once perceived this and eagerly accepted it as a sign that she had gained her point come she exclaimed thy mother says yes we will not be long gone and perhaps we will bring him home quite well shook her head sorrowfully and paused for a while in her knitting to watch the children crossing the market place together supporting her little son on one side on the other both carefully his slow and halting movements over the rough of the pavement then as they all turned a comer and disappeared she sighed and a couple of bright tears down on her knitting but the next moment her eyes were as bold and keen and defiant as ever while she stood up to attend to two or three customers who just then approached her stall and her voice was as shrill and sharp as any woman s voice could be in the noisy business of driving a bargain having disposed of three or four fat and fowls at a good profit she and counted the money in her apron pockets a tune and looked up at the genial sky with an expression of oh yes tis a fine day she muttered and the heavens look as if the saints lived in them but by and by the clouds will come and the cold the the snow the frost and the bitterness of winter and honest folk will starve while thieves make a good living that is the way the wise god things in this world she gave a short laugh of scorn and resumed the of her needles not raising her eyes from her work even when her neighbour the old woman who sold vegetables at the next stall ventured to address her where is thy unfortunate boy gone to she is it wise to let him be with the children they are strong and quick and full of mischief they might do him fresh injury in play without meaning it i will trust them answered they have taken him to see a cardinal a cardinal i and the old woman her withered neck forward in amazement and began to i the master christian de that is strange what does the cardinal want with him nothing said it seems that he is old man who is kind to children and the girl has a fancy to get his blessing for my that is | 33 |
all and that is little enough responded the old vegetable still laughing or rather hoarsely a blessing is n t worth much nowadays is it it never puts an extra of meat in the pot and yet it is all one gets out of the priests for all the prayers and the praise last time i went to confession i accused myself of the sin of envy i said look here my father i am a widow and very old and i have in all my bones and i have only a bit of to sleep on at home and if i have a bad day with the market i can buy no food and there is a woman living near me who has a warm house with a stove in it and blankets to cover her and a bit of money put by and i envy her her blankets and her stove and her house and her money is that a sin and he said it was a sin but that he would me from it if i said ten and ten before our lady of bon and then he gave me his blessing but no blankets and no stove and no money and i have not said ten and yet because my bones have ached too much all the week for me to walk up the hill to bon and the blessing has been no use to me at all nor is it likely to be i thought you had given up all that church nonsense long ago nay nay not altogether murmured the old woman i am very old and one never there may be truth in some of it it is the burning and the in hell that i think of you know that is very likely to happen because you see in this life we have nothing but trouble so whoever made us must like to see us suffering it must be a pleasure to god and so it is sure to go on and on always and i am afraid and if a candle now and then to st joseph would help matters i am not the one to grudge it it is better to bum a candle than burn one s self laughed loudly but made no answer she could not waste her time arguing the ridiculous the master christian of an old creature who was so iu ignorance as to think that a candle could rescue her soul from a possible hell she went on knitting in silence till a sudden shadow came between her and the sunlight and a girl s voice harsh yet with a certain broken sweetness in it a fine morning s killing aye all their necks wrung all dead birds once they could fly fly and swim fly and swim all dead now and sold cheap in the open market a shrill laugh finished this outburst but knew who it was that spoke and maintained her is that you again she said not you will tire yourself to death wandering about the streets all day la as she was called by the shook her head and smiled she was a tall girl with black hair disordered and falling loosely about her pale face her eyes were dark and but wild and with a hunted expression in them and her dress was composed of the strangest of oddly materials and colours pinned about her without any order or the very idea of decent clothing being hardly considered as her bosom was half exposed and her legs were bare she wore no head covering and her whole aspect was that of one who had suddenly awakened from a hideous dream and was striving to forget its horrors i shall never be tired she said if i could be tired i should sleep but i never sleep i am looking for him you know it was at the fair i lost him you remember the great fair and when i find him i shall kill him it is quite easy to kill you take a sharp glittering thing so and she snatched up a knife that lay on s counter and you plunge it so and she struck it down with singular fury through the breast of one of the dead birds which were s stock in trade then she threw the knife on the ground rubbed her hands together tossed her head and laughed again that is how i shall do it when i meet him said nothing she simply removed the one bird from among the others and setting il the master christian picked up the knife the ground and went on knitting as calmly as ever i am going to see the proceeded tossing back her locks and making one or two fantastic dance steps as she spoke the great of this wonderful city of i want to ask him how it happened that god made men it was a mistake which he must be sorry for the knows everything he will tell me about it ah what a beautiful mistake is the himself and how soon women find it out bon bon responded quietly singing to herself the girl sauntered os several of the market women looked after her she killed her child they say muttered the old vegetable but no one knows sh sh sh angrily what one does not know one should not say there never was a child at all whatever the wrong was she has suffered for it and if the man who led her astray ever comes nigh her his life is not worth a rough justice said one of the market who had just paused close by to light his pipe | 33 |
aye rough justice echoed when justice is not given to the people the people take it for themselves and if a man ill by a woman he has murdered her as surely as if he had put a knife through her and tis but even payment when he gets the knife into himself things in this life are too easy for men and too hard for women men make the laws for their own convenience and never a thought of us at all in the making they are a selfish lot the porter laughed carelessly and having lit his pipe to his satisfaction went his way a great many more customers now came to s stall and for upwards of an hour there was shrill argument and driving of till she had pretty well cleared her counter of all its stock then she sat down ag in and looked to ri ht and left of the market place for any n of the children returning with her little son but there was not a glimpse of them anywhere i wonder what they are doing she thought and wonder what sort a cardinal t s van the master christian the child to see i these great princes of the church care nothing for the poor the very pope allows half italy to starve while he himself up with his treasures in the what should a great cardinal care for my poor little if the stories of the christ were true and one could only take the child to him then indeed there might be a chance of cure i but it is all a lie and the worst of the lie is that it would give us all so much comfort and happiness if it were only true it is like holding out a rope to a drowning man and it away again and when the rope goes the sooner one sinks under the waves the better vi the cardinal was still in his room alone with the boy when madame standing at her door under the waving of the creeping and her eyes from the radiance of the sun saw her children approaching with between them little wretches that they are she murmured once let them get an idea into their heads and nothing will knock it out now i shall have to tell that they are here what an impertinence it seems and yet he is so gentle and has such a good heart that perhaps he will not mind here she broke off her as the children came up eagerly demanding to know where the cardinal was madame set her arms and surveyed the little group of three half half the cardinal has not left his room since breakfast she answered he is playing providence already to a poor lad lost in the streets and for that matter lost in the world without father or mother to look after him he was found in dame last night why mother interrupted how could a boy get into dame last night when and i went there nobody was in the church at all and we left one candle burning all alone in the darkness and when we came out the swore at us for having gone in and then locked the door well if one must be so exact the boy was not found actually in dame obstinate child returned his mother impatiently it happened at midnight the good cardinal heard crying and went to see who it was and he found a poor boy outside the cathedral weeping as if his heart were breaking and leaning his head against the hard door for a pillow and he brought him back and gave him his own bed to sleep in and the lad is with him now the master christian little leaning on his looked up with interest is he lame like me he asked no child madame he is straight and strong in truth a very pretty boy sighed made a dash forward i will go and see him she said and i will call how dare you but had past her mother and breathless with a sense of excitement and had burst into the cardinal s room without knocking there on the threshold she paused somewhat afraid at her own boldness and startled too at the sight of who was seated near the window opposite the cardinal and who turned his deep blue eyes upon her with a look of the cardinal himself rose and turned to greet her and as the wilful little maid met his encouraging glance and noted the sweetness of his expression she trembled and losing nerve began to cry she stammered yes my child what is it said the cardinal kindly do not be afraid i am at your service you have brought the little friend you spoke to me of yesterday peeped at him her tears and drooping her head answered with a somewhat smothered yes that is well i will go to him at once and the cardinal paused a moment looking at who as if to his wish rose and approached him and you you will also come you see my child went on the good addressing the while he laid a gently caressing hand on her hair another little friend has come to me who is also very sad and though he is not crippled or ill he is all alone in the world which is for one so young a great hardship you must be sorry for him too as well as for your own poor but was seized with an extraordinary timidity and had much to keep back the tears that rose in her throat and threatened to break out in a burst oi | 33 |
the master christian sobbing she did not know in the least what was the matter with her she was only conscious of an immense confusion and shyness which were quite new to her ordinarily bold and careless nature s face frightened yet fascinated her he she thought like the beautiful angel of the famous stained glass window in the crumbling old church of st she dared not speak to him she could only steal glances at him from under the curling length of her dark tear wet lashes and when the cardinal took her by the hand and descended the staircase with her to the passage where the crippled waited she could not forbear glancing back every now and then over her shoulder at the slight almost figure of the boy who noiselessly and with a light gliding step followed and now madame came forward a anxious figure of and apology alas she began it is too shameful that your quiet should be disturbed in this way but if you could only know the obstinacy of these children ah yes if you knew all you would pity their parents you would indeed and this is the unhappy little creature they have brought to you b sad sight truly and afflicted sorely by the will of god though one could hardly say that god was anywhere about when he fell poor baby from his mother s cart and twisted his body one would rather think the devil was in t ie business asking your pardon for surely the turning of a human creature into a useless lump has little of good or divine kindness in it now make thy best bow to the cardinal went on madame with a gasp for breath in her speech addressing the little and it is a pity thou hast no time to confess thy sins and take the before so holy a man lay hands on thee but at these words cardinal turned to her with a gesture i pray you do not call me holy my daughter he said earnestly the old shadows of pain and protest gathering in his eyes nothing can make me more sorrowful than to hear such an epithet applied to one who is so full of errors and sins as myself try to look upon me just as i am merely an old man the grave with the master christian j nothing of merit in me beyond the desire to serve our lord and obey his commands a desire which is far stronger than the practical force to obey it much that i would do i cannot and in much that i attempt i fail come to me my child here interrupting himself he bent down and putting his arms tenderly round lifted him bodily and all and carried him into the next room and as he did so the young glided in before him and stood beside his chair his blue eyes shining with a soft and eager light of interest and a little smile lifting the delicate upper curve of his lips as he looked on meanwhile perched on the cardinal s knee and held close in the cardinal s arms was not at all frightened he simply sat contented gazing up at the pale venerable face above him and having as they considered got their way stayed at the door half afraid to enter and their mother peered over their heads at the little scene in mingled awe and curiosity my poor child then said the cardinal gently i want you to understand quite clearly how sorry i am for you and how willingly i would do anything in the world to make you a strong well and happy boy but you must not fancy that i can cure you i told your little friends yesterday that i was not a saint such as you read about in story books and that i could not work miracles because i am not worthy to be so filled with the divine spirit as to heal with a touch like the better servants of our blessed lord nevertheless i firmly believe that if god saw that it was good for you to be strong and well he would find ways to make you so sometimes sickness and sorrow are sent to us for our advantage sometimes even death comes to us for our larger benefit though we may not understand how it is so till afterwards but in heaven everything will be made clear and even our will be turned into joys do you understand yes murmured gravely but two large tears up in his plaintive eyes as the faint glimmer of hope he had encouraged as to the possibility of his being cured by the touch of a cardinal expired in the lonely darkness of his little afflicted soul that is well continued the cardinal y the master christian now since it is so difficult for you to kneel you shall stay where you are in my arms so and he set him on knee in a position of even greater comfort than before you shall simply shut your eyes and clasp your little hands together as i put them here and as he spoke he crossed the child s hands on his silver and i will ask our lord to come and make you well for of myself i can do nothing at these words and glanced at each other and then as if simultaneously moved by some inexplicable emotion dropped on their knees their mother too stout and to do this with either or satisfaction to herself was contented to bend her head as low as she could get it remained standing leaning against the cardinal s chair his eyes fixed on the crippled he had the aspect of a | 33 |
young angel of compassion whose sole immortal desire was to lift the burden of sorrow and pain from the lives of humanity and after a minute or two passed in silent meditation the cardinal laid his hands tenderly on s fair curly head and prayed aloud oh merciful christ i most pitying and gentle to whom in the days of thy sacred life on earth the sick and suffering and lame and blind were brought and never sent away or consider we thee the sufferings of this thy little child deprived of all the joys which thou hast made so sweet for those who are strong and straight in their youth and who have no to their courage or to the of their souls look upon him oh gentle king and master of all such children and even as thou a child be pleased to heal him of his sad infirmity for if thou wilt thou make this bent body straight and these withered muscles strong from death itself thou life and nothing is impossible to thee but above all things gracious we do pray thee so to lift and strengthen this child s soul that if it is destined he should still be called upon to bear his present pain and trouble grant to him such perfection in his inward spirit that he may prove worthy to be counted among thy angels in the bright hereafter to thy care and to thy comfort and to healing great master we the master christian commend him trusting him entirely to thy mercy with perfect resignation to thy divine will for the sake and memory of thy most holy childhood help and bless this child amen a deep silence ensued only the slow of the big old fashioned clock in madame s kitchen which was next door to the room they were all in could be distinctly heard and were the first to stir they got up from their knees brushed the dust of the floor from their clothes and stared curiously at was a miracle going to happen however still resting against the cardinal s breast with his meagre little hands clasped tight on the cardinal s kept his eyes solemnly shut and gave no sign till the cardinal himself gently moved him and set him down then he glanced around him and would have fallen had he not been given his little for support very pathetic was the smile which then quivered on his pale lips very was the shake of his head as he prepared to away thank you very much he murmured gently i felt almost cured while you were praying but i am afraid it is no use you see there are so many miserable people in the world many too i am not the only one our lord must have enough to do if he is asked to heal them all but i am sure you have done everything you can for me and i am grateful to you bye good bye my child and the cardinal strongly moved by the sight of the little helpless twisted figure and painfully impressed too by the sense of his own entire to remove the cause of the trouble bent down and kissed him believe me if the giving of my own life could make you strong you should have that life willingly may god bless and heal you at that moment moved from the place he had kept near the cardinal s chair with a light eager step forward he went up to the little and putting his arms round him kissed him on the forehead good bye dear little brother he said smiling do not be sad have patience in all the universe among all the millions and millions of worlds there is never a pure and unselfish prayer that the i o the master christian god does not answer be sure of that take courage dear little brother you will soon be well stared half amazed at the gentle young face that shone upon him with such an expression of hope and tenderness you are very kind he said and you are just a boy yourself so you can perhaps guess how it must feel not to be like other boys who can run and leap and walk for miles and miles through the fields and the green shady forests where the birds sing and where there is so much to see and think about when one is lame one cannot go far you and then there is my mother she is very sad about me and it will be hard for her if i live to be a man and still can do nothing to help her his weak voice broke and two large tears filled his eyes and over slowly down his pale cheeks took his hand and pressed it do not cry he said gently believe in what i say that you will soon be quite well the cardinal has prayed for you as only good men can pray without one selfish thought in faith and deep humility such prayers draw angels down be patient be brave believe in the best and the best will come his words rang out with a sweet convincing clearness and even cardinal felt a sense of comfort as he listened the little smiled through his tears oh yes he murmured i will hope and i will believe i am always sure god is near us though my mother thinks he must be very far away yes i will be as brave as i can you are very good to me i know you understand just how i feel and i thank you very much i hope you will be happy yourself some day good bye then turning to and he asked shall | 33 |
we go now s brows were drawn together in a dark frown i suppose so he replied i suppose there s nothing more to be done this with a somewhat sarcastic air of inquiry directed at the cardinal who met his bold bright glance mildly and half nothing more my child he answered did you expect a miracle i told you from the first that i was no saint i can do no good unless our lord wills it the master christian i the pope believes in miracles said flushing as he spoke with the heat of a sudden angry emotion but only those that are performed on his own behalf he thinks that god s chief business is to look after him a silence ensued whether of horror or embarrassment could hardly be determined the cardinal said nothing trembled a little what a dreadful boy really was she thought madame shut up her eyes in horror crossed herself devoutly as against some evil spirit and was about to speak when nothing threw himself into the breach again and turned with a fiery vehemence of appeal towards the young and thoughtful looking it s just as i say he declared the pope is taken as much care of as if he were a wrapped in was christ taken care of no he suffered all sorts of hardships and at last was the pope himself up in the with millions and millions of money s worth while thousands of people around him in italy alone are starving and miserable christ would not allow such a thing christ said sell half that thou hast and give to the poor now the pope doesn t sell half nor a quarter nor a bit of a quarter he takes all he can get and keeps it and yet god is supposed to work miracles for an old man like that oh i know all about it boys read the newspapers as well as grown men gasped madame extending her fat arm and hand with a solemn gesture of reproach thou art mad wicked but went on still addressing now you are a boy and i you can read and think you are about my age i suppose and you are left all alone in the world with nobody to care for you well do you think that is well arranged and do you think there is any sense in believing in a god who does such a lot of cruel things and when he won t help us ever so little how can people be good if they keep on praying and praying and hoping and hoping and working and working and yet nothing comes of it all but trouble and pain and loss he stopped for t of breath to go on the master christian looked at him quietly full in the eyes yes it is hard he very hard but it is not god who does any cruel thing god is love and the spirit of love cannot be cruel it is the people of the world themselves the people who injure each other in thought word and d and who have no spirit of love in them these invite sorrow and pain and rush upon misfortune then they blame god for it i ah it is easy to blame god so much easier than to blame one s self and if you ask me if it is well for those who suffer cruel things to still believe in god i say yes i do think it well for it is the only chance they have of finding the right way of life after much wandering in the wrong his sweet voice fell on the silence like a soft and for no particular reason that he could give felt suddenly abashed cardinal listened to the words of this strange with a singular emotion an emotion too deep to find any outlet in speech raised her brown eyes and timidly ventured to put in her opinion yes she said i am sure that is true you see with a wise glance at her brother you see it is always the same when anyone suffers something unfortunate there is certain to be some cause for it now everybody says that if poor had not put in the cart to save herself the trouble of holding him on her knee he would not have tumbled out and been hurt that was the beginning of it and that was not god s fault come we ll take you back now at this madame started from her stricken condition of into speech and action ah yes it is indeed time i she exclaimed enough trouble has been given i am sure to and if such a prayer as his does not reach heaven why then there is no heaven at all and it is no good ourselves about it and what things have been said by my my son against the holy father ah mon the wickedness of it the horror and if thou such from newspapers thou shalt not read who is to prevent me demanded his eyes sparkling hush my child i the cardinal the master christian quietly nothing indeed can prevent thee no one can hinder thee from walking the world according to thine own will and direction thou must take good and evil as they come and strive thy best to discern between them and if the love of god cannot help thee perchance the love of thy mother may there was a pause s head drooped and quick tears filled his eyes he said nothing further but turned to assist in guiding the little s hesitating steps as he from the room | 33 |
the madame choked back a rising sob god bless you i she will not forget those words the lad has a hasty temper but a good heart yes believe me a good heart that i am sure of responded the cardinal he is quick and intelligent and seeks to know the truth if he could feel an asserted truth to be really true i am confident he would frame his life upon it and be a good brave man yes he is a clever lad and our modem system of education the brain to a exceeding bodily years his impatience and anger only come from over what he finds it difficult to understand it is all a puzzle to him all a puzzle as it is to most of us he sighed then added in a lighter tone i shall want nothing more at your kindly hands my daughter i have decided to leave for paris to day and will take an early afternoon train and he hesitated a moment will go with me madame was scarcely surprised at this announcement she had indeed expected it she glanced at himself to see how he accepted this sudden change in his fortunes but he was entirely absorbed in watching and lead their little crippled friend away after all there was nothing to be said the cardinal was a free agent he had a perfect right to a boy and give him and protection if he chose he would make thought madame a and would look like a young angel in his little white and so the good woman deciding in her own mind that such was the simple destiny for which the intended him smiled murmured the master christian and and hastened from the room to prepare for whether he asked for it or not a dish of her most excellent soup to strengthen and support him before starting on his journey and ere four o clock had from all the towers of the city the hotel was deprived of its honoured guest the cardinal accompanied by his had departed and the black smoky snake like train had rushed with them through the peace of the pasture lands on towards the brilliant city in wickedness which like a jewel on the borders of the as as ever sparkled on the shores of as as hollow to the very core of as her sister of ancient days wanton shines with the ghastly and unnatural lustre of arising from old graves and as determined as the destruction of he old time city splendid is the approaching o modern capital to the inhabitants of the very name of paris carries with it a kind of awe it various emotions of wonder admiration longing curiosity and even fear for paris is a in which and are all thrown by the to together in a of conflicting elements and the smoke of it in to heaven not from its does the cry of how long o lord how long ascend nowadays for its priests are more skilled in the use of the witty bon or the polished sneer than in the power of the prophet s appeal it is from the courts of science the warning note of terror sounds the cold vast courts where reasoning wander and learn and deeply knowing that all their but go to prove the fact that apart from all creed and all forms of creed crime carries punishment as surely as the seed is born with the flower who are fully aware that not all the forces of all mankind working with to support a lie can drive back the storm cloud of the wrath of that unknown quantity called god whose do most terribly declare the truth with power and great glory how long o lord how long i not long we think o the master christian friends not long now shall we wait for the divine of the end hints of it are in the air signs and of it are about us in our almost terrific discoveries of the invisible forces of light and sound we are not given such tremendous powers to play with in our fashion for the convenience of making our brief easier to live and more interesting no there is some deeper reason one which in our heedless way of dancing over our own earth grave we never dream of and we go on making our little plans building our ships and making loud of our armies and our skill and our both by land and sea and our amazing importance to ourselves and to others which importance has reached such a height at the present day as to make of us a veritable spectacle for laughter and we draw out our little sums of life from the eternal and add them up and try to obtain the highest interest for them always forgetting to calculate that in making up the sum total that mysterious unknown quantity will have to come in and unless it has been taken into due counting from the first will be a figure likely to swamp the whole business and in this particular phase of speculation and exchange paris has long been playing a losing game so steadily has she lost in honour in in faith in morals in justice in honesty and in living that it does not seem possible she can ever herself her men are her women her youth of both sexes her laws are corrupt her arts her religion dead what next can be expected of her or rather to what extent will destiny permit her to go before the bolt of destruction falls thus far and no farther has ever been the principle | 33 |
of nature and paris has almost touched the thus far sitting quietly in her tidy kitchen near the open window after the cardinal s departure madame busily her thoughts flying faster than her glittering needles a certain vague impression of solemnity had been left on her mind by the events of the morning she could not quite reason out the why or the wherefore of it and yet it was a fact that after had gone she had when entering the rooms he had felt a singular sense ot awe the master almost as if one were in the cathedral at the ringing of the she murmured under her breath glancing about timidly at the plain furniture and bare walls and after putting everything in order she closed and locked the doors with a determination that she would not let those rooms to the first chance comer for a long time no though she might have to lose money by her refusal and now as she sat employed in knitting for whom she could see sitting with his sister outside on the bench under the house porch reading or pretending to read she began to wonder what opinion those two young had formed in their minds respecting the cardinal and also what they thought of the boy who had been taken so suddenly under his protection she was almost tempted to call and ask him a few questions on the subject but she had learnt to value peace and when she could secure those rare blessings at the hands of her children and when they were employed with a book and visibly out of mischief she thought it wisest to leave them alone and so she left them in the present instance pushing her window open as she sat and for the air was warm and and the long rays of sunshine streaming across the square were of the hue of a ripe just gathered and the delicate and and statues on the porch of the cathedral appeared like so many of grey web glistening in a haze of gold now and then neighbours passed and nodded or called a greeting which madame answered cheerily still knitting and the long shafts of sunshine grew longer casting deeper shadows as the quarters all at once there was a cry a woman s figure came rushing across the square madame sprang up and her children ran out of the porch as they recognised what is it they all cried simultaneously breathless laughing and sobbing alternately tried to speak but could only and throw up her hands in a kind of ecstasy but whether of despair or joy could not be guessed madame shook her by the arm the master christian speak what is it made a violent effort i she gasped flinging herself to and fro and still sobbing and laughing mon i cried madame in horror is the child dead no no and again tossed her arms aloft in a kind of frenzy but look you there is sl god yes we thought he was an invention of the priests but he is a real god after all oh and she tried to grasp the amazed and in her arms you are two of his angels you took my boy to the cardinal the children glanced at each other yes yes they murmured well and see what has happened see comes and as she spoke with an excitement that seemed to inspire every nerve of her body a little figure came running lightly towards them the light strong figure of a boy with fair curls flying in the wind and a face in which the large grey astonished eyes flashed with an almost divine joy mother mother he cried madame felt as though the heavens had suddenly opened to let the angels down was this who had painfully upon all his life and had left her house in his usual condition an hour or so ago this straight child running with the graceful and easy movement of a creature who had never known a day s pain is it thou almost screamed speak it thou it is i said and he stopped panting for breath then threw his arms round his mother s neck and faced them it is i strong and well i thanks to god and the prayers of the cardinal for a moment there was a dead silence a silence of amazement unbroken save by the joyful weeping of then suddenly a deep toned bell rang from the tower of dame and in the flame red of the falling sun the that make their the master christian homes among the of the great cathedral rose floating in cloudy circles towards the sky one bell and then another yet another the cried dropping on her knees and folding her hands the mother i the down they all knelt a group in the porch through which the good cardinal had so lately passed and the bells sweetly and as reverently repeated the salutation amid made with tears and and neighbours and hearing of the miracle came hastening to the hotel to into its truth and pausing as they saw the cluster of kneeling figures in the porch instinctively and without question knelt also then as the news spread group after group came and gathering together and dropping on their knees amazed and awe struck till the broad square showed but one black mass of a congregation under the sky their voices joining in with the clear accents of one little happy child while behind them rose the towers of dame and over their heads the white flew and the bells of the ran and the sun dropped slowly into the west crimson and glorious | 33 |
like the shining rim of a cup held out and then drawn slowly back again by angel hands within the veil of heaven vii meanwhile unconscious of the miracle his prayer had wrought cardinal and his young charge arrived in paris and drove from the station direct to a house situated near the du where the cardinal s niece only daughter of prince and herself famous throughout europe as a painter of the highest promise had a of rooms and reserved for her occasional visits to the french capital was a rare type of her sex unlike any other woman in the world so those who knew her best were wont to declare without being actually beautiful according to the accepted lines and of physical perfection she created around her an effect of beauty which was dazzling and exciting to a singular degree people who came once within the charmed circle of her influence could never forget her and always spoke of her afterwards as a creature apart a woman of genius yes they said but something more even than that and this something more was just the inexplicable part of her which governed her whole being and rendered her so attractive and she was not without beauty or perhaps it should be termed loveliness rather of an exquisitely suggestive kind which provoked the into questioning where and how the of it fell in her eyes perhaps the secret lay they were violet grey in hue and with long lashes that swept the delicate pale cheeks in a dark golden fringe of shadow through which the sparkle of vision gleamed now now tenderly and anon these same half shut and deep fringed would open wide letting the full of the soul behind the eyes pour forth its in flashes of such lightning like clearness and compelling force that it was impossible not to recognise something higher than mere woman in the of that spiritual glory in figure she was wonderfully slight so slight indeed that go the master christian she suggested a delicate willow such as can be bent and curved with one hand yet this stood her in good stead for being united with extreme it gave her a grace of movement resembling that of some mountain bird or sea swallow which flies with amazing swiftness yet seeming never moved quickly no one had ever seen her in what is termed a rush or a vulgar hurry she did everything she had to do without haste without noise without announcement or assertion of any kind and all that she did was done as perfectly as her ability could warrant and that ability was very great indeed and displayed itself in small details as well as large attempts whether she merely twisted her golden brown hair into a knot or tied a few flowers together and fastened them on her dress with a pearl pin either thing was perfectly without a false line or a hue her face form voice and colouring were like a of music harmonious and hence the impression of satisfaction and composure her presence always gave in herself she was a creature of remarkable temperament and character true womanly in every delicate sentiment fancy and feeling but with something of the man hero in her scorn of petty aims her delight in noble deeds her courage her ambition her devotion to duty and her sense of honour full of rare and instinctive knowledge of persons and motives she could only be deceived and blinded where her deepest affections were concerned and there she could certainly be and as completely as the wisest of us all looking at her now as she stood awaiting her uncle s arrival in the drawing room of her the windows of which faced the she expressed to the air and surroundings the personality of a thoughtful charming young woman no more her black silk gown cut simply in the prevailing mode of definitely the figure from throat to and then springing out in folds of trailing had nothing remarkable about it save its perfection of fit the pale de france rose that rested lightly amongst the old lace at her neck pinned yet looking as though it had dropped there merely out of a languid desire to from further was her her hair full of curious lights and shades the master christian from brown to gold and gold to brown again in a rippling uncertain fashion clustered thickly over her brow and was caught back at the sides in a loose twist after the style of the greek and her fine small white hands and fingers so skilled in the use of the artist s brush looked too tiny and delicate to be of any service save to receive the kisses of a lover s lips or to be raised folded pure and calm in a child like appeal to heaven certainly in her fragile appearance she expressed nothing save charm no one studying her would have her with genius power and the large of a or a yet within the small head lay a marvellous brain and the delicate body was possessed by a spirit of amazing to with while she watched for the first glimpse of the carriage which was to bring her uncle the cardinal whom she loved with a rare and tender devotion her thoughts were occupied with a letter she had received that morning from rome a letter writ in choice italian which though brief contained for her some drops of the essence of all the world s sweetness and was thus my own love a century seems to have passed away since you left rome the hours move slowly without you they are days even years but i feel your spirit is always with me absence for | 33 |
those who love is not absence after all to the soul time is nothing space is nothing and my true and passionate love for you makes an invisible bridge over which my thoughts run and fly to your sweet presence carrying their delicious burden of a thousand kisses a thousand embraces and blessings to the and angel of my life from her devoted lover her devoted lover yes her comrade in art was her lover a genius himself who had recognised her genius and who bowed before it conquered and subdued the creator of exquisitely delicate and with and and and all therein pictures so ethereal and warm and bright m the master christian colour that they were called by some of the best italian critics the of painting he this wonderful man had caught her soul and heart by storm in a few sudden quickly whispered words one night when the moon was at the full hanging high over the gardens of the and proud of her security in the love she had won had risen by leaps and bounds to a magnificence of effort and so far beyond him that old and wise persons skilled in the wicked ways of the world would sometimes discourse among themselves in fashion thus is it possible that ke is not jealous he must surely see that her work is superior to his own and others would answer oh no no man was ever known to admit even in thought that a woman can do better things in art than himself if a masculine creature draws a picture on a stone he will assure himself in his own that it is really much more simply as man s work than the last triumph of a besides you have to remember that in this case the man is the woman s lover he could soon kill her genius if he chose he has simply to desert her such an easy thing so often done and she will paint no more women are all alike they rest on love when that fails then everything fails and they drop into old age without a groan and then perhaps a stray would say but need not depend on one lover surely and he would get for answer no she need not but it so happens that she does which to everybody seemed extraordinary more particularly in italy where morals are so that a woman has only to be seen walking alone in the public gardens or streets with one of the opposite sex and her reputation is gone for ever it is no use to explain that the man in question is her father her brother or her uncle he simply could not be he is the man the one inevitable few in italy believe in the of english women their reasons for doubt being simply because they see the fair and free ones going to parties theatres and other places of amusement with their friends of the other sex in perfect ease and confidence and in the case of though she was to with her father s consent reluctantly obtained and the the master christian edge oi all the roman world of society she saw very lit of him and that little never thus it was very sweet to receive such words as those she had had from him that day time is nothing space is nothing and my true and passionate love for you makes an invisible bridge over which my thoughts run and fly to your sweet presence the letter lay warm in her bosom just under the de france rose she pressed it tenderly with her little hand now simply for the childish pleasure of hearing the paper rustle and she smiled she murmured half aloud my i and she recalled certain lines of verse he had written to her for most write verse as easily as they eat and there are countless to in the tongue whereas our rough english can only supply for the word love some three or four similar sounds which is perhaps a fortunate thing spoke english and french as easily and as her native and had read the most notable books in all three languages so she was well aware that of all kinds of human speech in the world there is none so adapted for making love and generally telling lies in as the in and this particular possessed in fullest perfection of sweetness so far as making love was concerned of the telling of lies he was according to s estimate of him most nobly ignorant she had not many idle moments however for meditation on her love matters or for dreamy study of the delicate of the tints on the trees of the for the carriage she had been awaiting soon made its appearance and rapidly down the road drew up sharply at the door she had just time to perceive that her uncle had not arrived alone when he entered and with a pretty grace and reverence for his holy calling she dropped on one knee before him to receive his which he gave by laying a hand on her soft hair and the cross on her brow after which he raised her and looked at her fondly my dear child i he said tenderly and again my dear child t he turned towards who had followed the master christian him and was now standing quietly on the threshold of the apartment this is one of our lord s little ones he said he is alone in the world and i have made myself his guardian and protector for the present you will be kind to him yes as kind as if you were his sister will you not | 33 |
for we are all one family in the sight of heaven and sorrow and loneliness and want can but strengthen the love which should knit us all together raising her candid eyes and fixing them on smiled the thoughtful face and pathetic expression of the boy greatly attracted her and in her heart she secretly wondered where her uncle had found so intelligent and inspired looking a creature but one of her attributes was a certain lack of curiosity concerning other people s and an almost fastidious dislike of asking questions on matters which did not closely concern her so she contented herself with giving him that smile of hers which in itself expressed all sweetness and saying gently you are very welcome you must try to feel that wherever my uncle is that is home i have felt that from the first replied in his soft musical voice i was all alone when my lord the cardinal found me but with him the world seems full of friends looked at him still more attentively and the fascination of his presence became she would have liked to continue the conversation but her uncle was fatigued by his journey and expressed the desire for an hour s rest she therefore summoned a servant to show him to the rooms prepared for his reception whither he went attending him and when after a little while followed to see that all was arranged for his comfort she found that he had retired to his bed chamber and that just outside his door in a little room adjoining his and stray was stated reading there was something indescribable ut the boy even in this attitude of study and observed him for a minute or two herself unseen his face reminded her of one of s the same broad brow deep eyes and sensitive lips the master christian which seemed to suggest the utterance of wondrous speech or melodious song the same golden hair swept back in rich clusters the same eager inspired yet controlled expression a curious fluttering of her heart disturbed the girl as she looked an dread a kind of wonder that almost touched on superstitious awe himself apparently unconscious of her observation went on reading his whole attitude expressing that he was guarding the door to anyone from breaking in upon the cardinal s rest and at last turned away reluctantly questioning herself as to the cause of the strange which thrilled her mind it is foolish of course she murmured but i feel just as if there were a supernatural presence in the house however i always do have that impression with uncle for he is so good and noble minded almost a saint as says but to day there is something else something quite she re entered the drawing room moving slowly with an abstracted air and did not at once perceive a visitor in the room a person in dress with a somewhat large head and strongly marked features a notable character of the time in paris known as the he had seated himself in a low and was turning over the pages of the month s de humming a little tune under his breath as he did so but he rose when he saw and advanced to greet her as she stopped short with a little startled exclamation of surprise at the sight of him forgive me he said with an gesture have i come at an moment i saw your uncle arrive and i was extremely anxious to see him on a little confidential matter i ventured to persuade your servant to let me enter no apologies are necessary said quickly my uncle is indeed here but he is tired with his journey and is resting yes i understand i and showing no intention to take his leave on account of the cardinal s non presence bowed low over the extended hand of the as she was sometimes called in the world of art where her name was a bone for the master christian dogs in the to fight over but if i might wait a little your business with my uncle is important questioned with slightly brows my dear child all business is important declared with a smile which spread the light of a certain benevolence all over his plump clean shaven face or so we think we who consider that we have any business which is of course a foolish idea but one that is universal to human nature we all imagine we are busy which is so curious of us will you sit here permit me and he arranged a couple of cushions in an arm chair and placed it near the window half reluctantly seated herself watching the under the shadow of her long lashes as he sat down opposite to her yes the the flies the worms and the men are all of one equality in the absurd belief that they can do things things that will last their persistent self is astonishing considering the advance the world has made in science and the overwhelming proofs we are always getting of the fact that we are only one of an eternal procession of many mighty all of which have been swept away with everything they have ever learnt into silence so that really all we do or try to do to doing nothing in the end that is your creed i know said with a faint sigh but it is a and a wretched one i do not find it so responded the complacently looking at a fine diamond ring that glittered on the little finger of his plump white hand it is a creed which upon us the virtue of being happy during the present moment no | 33 |
matter what the next may bring let each man enjoy himself according to his temperament and do not impose bounds upon him give him his liberty let him alone do not try to him with the idea that there is a god looking after him so will he be spared much disappointment and useless if he makes his own unpleasant in this world he will not be able to lift up his hands to the innocent skies which are only composed of pure and blame an impossible large person sitting up there who the master christian can have no part in circumstances which are entirely unknown outside the earth s small he smiled kindly as he spoke and looked at the who flushed with a sudden warmth that sent a wave of pale rose over her face and made her cheeks the colour of the flower she how cruel you are she said how cold how you would give each man his freedom according to habit and temperament no matter whether such habit and temperament led to crime or otherwise you would impose upon him no creed no belief in anything higher than himself and yet you remain in the church the laughed softly you are angry beautifully vexed with me i like to see you so you are a woman of remarkable genius and yet you are quite a little child in heart a positive child with and hopes i should not wonder if you even believed that love itself is eternal that most passing of yes and you exclaim against me because i venture to think for myself it is appalling that i should think for myself and yet remain in the church my dear lady you might just as well after the dirty of the case have turned upon our late friend and exclaimed and yet you remained president s violet eyes glowed he was not allowed to remain president she said no he was not he died certainly i and i know you think he would not have died if he had done his best to clear the character of an innocent man to women of your type it always seems as if god the large person up above stepped in exactly at the right moment it would really appear as if it were so at times but such things are mere i do not believe in said i do not believe in chance or luck or what you call arrangements of any sort i think everything is planned by law from the beginning even to the particular direction in which a grain of dust through space it is all and exact and the moving spirit the divine centre of the master christian whom i call god cannot or alter one of the majestic system without the whole in complete catastrophe it is our mistake to chance things at least so i think and if i exclaim against you and say why do you remain in the church it is because i cannot understand a man of conscience and intellect outwardly one thing while inwardly he means another because god will take him in the end at his own interior not at his outward seeming uncomfortable if true said the still smiling when one has been at infinite pains all one s life to present a virtuous and noble aspect to the world it would be indeed distressing if at the last moment one were obliged to lift the mask sometimes one is not given the chance to lift it interposed it is torn off by a force greater than one s own call no man happy till his death you know yes i know and the settled himself in his chair more comfortably he loved an argument with the and was wont to declare that she was the only woman in the world who had ever made him wish to be a good man but that can be taken m two ways it may mean that no man is happy till his death which i most believe or it may mean that a man is only judged after his death in which case it cannot be said to affect his happiness as he is past caring whether people think ill or well of him besides after death it must needs be all right as every man is so particularly fortunate in his smiled a little that is witty of you she said but the fact of every man having a kindly only proves goodness of heart and feeling in his relatives and friends or gratitude for a fortune left to them in his will declared the gaily or a sense of relief that the dear creature has gone and will never come back either motive would i know inspire me to write most pathetic verses now you bend your charming brows at me i have said something outrageous not from the point of view at which you take life said quietly but i was just then thinking of a the master christian cousin of mine a very beautiful woman her husband treated her with every possible sort of what i should term civil cruelty polite torture refined agony if he had struck her or shot her dead it would have been far kinder but his conduct was worse than murder he finally deserted her and left her to fight her own way through the world then he died suddenly and she forgot all his faults spoke of him as though he had been a of goodness and lives now for his memory ever mourning his loss in her case the feeling of regret had nothing to do with money for he spent all her fortune and left her nothing even of her own she has to work hard for | 33 |
her living now but she loves him and is as true to him as if he were still alive what do you say to that i say that the lady in question must be a charming person replied the perfectly charming i but of course she is deceiving herself and she takes pleasure in the self deception she knows that the man had deserted her and was quite unworthy of her devotion but she to herself that she does not know and it it is charming of course but women will do that kind of thing it is extraordinary but they will they all deceive themselves in matters of love even you deceive yourself started i she exclaimed yes you why not and the treated her to one of his particularly paternal smiles you are to but no man ever had or ever could have all the virtues with which you this excellent he is a delightful creature a good artist unique in his own particular line but you think him something much greater than even artist or man a sort of god though the gods themselves were not only fit to be now i am not a in the gods but of course it is delightful to me to meet those who are or needs neither praise nor defence said with a slight touch of all the world knows what he is yes precisely that is just it all the world knows what he is and the rubbed his forehead with an air of irritation and i am you by my a r ig i loo the master christian i can see well well you must forgive my i admit my faults i am old i am a i talk too much i have a bad opinion of man and an equally bad opinion of the forces that him by the way i met that terrible and at the the other day the man who is making such a sensation in england with his addresses to the people he is quite an do you know he believes in everything and everybody even in me i laughed and her laughter sweet and low thrilled the air with a sense of music that is wonderful she said gaily even in you i and how does he manage to believe in you i do tell me i a little frown wrinkled the s brow well i in a strange way he responded you know he is a very strange man and believes in very strange things when i treat humanity as a jest which is really how it should be treated he looks at me with a grand air of oh you will progress he says you are passing through a phase my dear sir i assure him i have lived in this phase as you call it for forty years i used to pray to the angels and saints and to all the different little that live in different places till i was twenty then i dropped all the pretty at once and since then i have believed in nothing myself least of all now i am sixty and yet you tell me i am only passing through a phase quite so he answered me with the utmost coolness your forty years or your sixty years are a moment merely the moment will pass and you will find another moment coming which will explain the one which has just gone nothing is and when i ask him which will be the best moment the one that goes or the one that comes he says that i am making the coming moment for myself which is so satisfactory he adds with that bright smile of his because of course you will make it pleasant pour de et inevitable i do not find the e but this man me it is because i do not trouble to look for it what do you think about it the master christian loi s eyes were full of dreamy i think mr s ideas are beautiful she said slowly i have often heard him talk on the subject of religion and of art and of work and all he says seems to be die expression of a noble and sincere mind he is gifted yes and he is becoming rather an alarming personage in england so i hear returned the he writes books that are distinctly dangerous because true he wants to upset like our writer you know will never be satisfied till like he has brought about another french revolution he is only a peasant they say but he writes with the pen of a prophet and this englishman is of the same only his work is directed against religious more than social ones i that is why i always feel so uneasy in his presence i and laughed lightly for the rest he is a brilliant creature enough and thoroughly manly the other evening at the club that little de was chattering in his usual offensive manner about women and astonished by the way in hich he pulled him up there was almost a very pretty but a stray man happened to mention casually that was considered one of the finest shots in england after that the dear vanished and did not return laughed poor de i i yes i have heard that mr in ever that is distinctly english riding shooting and all that kind of thing he is not few englishmen are said the and yet to my mind there is something not altogether english in this man he has none of the heavy british mental and physical he is strong and muscular certainly but also light | 33 |
london across space without wires or any visible means of communication and when i am told that probably one of these days i shall be able at will to see the person to whom i send the message reflected in space while the message is being delivered i declare myself so perfectly satisfied with the fairy revealed to me that i have really no time and perhaps no inclination to think of any other world than this one you are wrong then said the cardinal very wrong to me these discoveries of science this apparent yielding of invisible forces into human hands are signs and of terror you remember the line the powers of heaven shall be shaken those powers are being shaken now we cannot hold them back they are here with us but they mean much more than mere common utility to our selves they are the material of what is spiritual they are the scientific proofs that christ s words to this generation namely this particular phase of creation are true blessed are they which have not seen and yet believed he said and many there are who have passed away from us in faith and hope believing not seeing and with whom we may rejoice in spirit knowing that all must be well with them but now now we are come upon an age of doubt in the world doubt which the master christian and the divine spirit in man and therefore we are being forced to see that we may believe but the seeing is terrible why because in the very beholding of things we remain blind answered the cardinal our intense selfishness the true light of every fresh advance we accept new of knowledge as so much practical use to us and to the little planet we live on but we do not see that they are merely reflections of the truth from which they the toy called the which pictures for us in a dazzling and moving so that we can see scenes of human life in action is merely a hint to us that every scene of every life is reflected in a ceaseless moving somewhere in the universe for the beholding of yes there must be who so to look upon everything or such possibilities of reflected scenes would not be inasmuch as nothing exists without a cause for existence the is a warning of the truth that from god no secrets are hid and also of the prophecy of christ there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be revealed in light the latter words are almost appalling in their absolute accord with the latest triumphant discoveries of science looked at the cardinal and slightly raised his eyebrows in a kind of wondering protest saint he murmured are you turning into a mystic one of those doubtful personages who are seeking to reconcile science with the church stop interposed the cardinal raising his hand with an eloquent gesture science is or should be the church science is truth and truth is god god cannot be found anywhere in a lie and the church in many ways would make our divine himself a lie were it not that his words are every day taking fresh meaning and bringing new and solemn conviction to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear he spoke as if carried beyond himself his pale cheeks glowed his eyes flashed fire and the combined effect of his words and manner was startling to the and in a way to his niece she t io the master christian beard him give utterance to such strong sentiments before and she shrank a little within herself wondering whether as a cardinal of the roman church he had not been too free of speech she glanced at who however only smiled a little if you should be disposed to express yourself in such terms at the he began the cardinal into his usual calm and met the s questioning half cynical glance i have many things to speak of at the he answered this matter will probably be one of them then but whatever was about to say was interrupted by the entrance of the boy who at that moment came into the room and stood beside the cardinal s chair the gave him an upward glance of surprise and admiration whom have we here he exclaimed one of your no replied the cardinal his eyes resting on the fair face of the lad with a wistful affection a little stray of our lord to whom i have ventured to offer protection there is none to question my right to do so for he is quite alone in the world and in a few words he related how he had discovered the boy on the previous night weeping outside the cathedral in listened attentively her violet eyes darkening and deepening as she heard now and then she raised them to look at the youthful who stood so quietly while the story of his troubles was told in the gentle and sympathetic way which was the cardinal s usual manner of speech and which him so much to all and for the present finished smiling he stays with me and already i have found him skilled in the knowledge of many things he can read scripture with a most musical and clear emphasis and he is a quick so that he will be valuable to me in more ways than one ah and the turned himself round in his chair to survey the boy more attentively you can read scripture but can you understand it if you can you are wiser than i am regarded him the master christian was it not once said in | 33 |
another existence and if so what sort of a one you think is in prospect for such a man as i am now don t pity me my dear don t pity me and he laughed a little as the cardinal took his hand and pressed it with a silent sympathy more eloquent than words we must all die and if i am to go somewhat sooner than i expected that is nothing to compassionate me for but there is just a little uncertainty in my mind i am not at all sure that death is the end i wish i could be quite positive of the fact i was once quite positive but science instead of giving me this absolute has in its later progress j i lo the master christian upset all my former calculations and i am afraid i must own that there is something else which to my mind seems distinctly disagreeable though the spoke lightly the troubled look remained in his eyes and the cardinal saw it my dear he began gently i am grieved at what you tell me no don t be grieved interrupted because that is not it talk to me tell me what you truly think that this life is only a where we do our lessons more or less badly that death is but the name for another life now do not force your faith for me tell me your own honest conviction do we end or do we begin again be frank and fair and true according to the very latest science remember not according to the latest of twelfth century issued from rome you see how frank i am and how entirely i go with you but i am going further than you i am bound for the last voyage so you must not offer me the wrong pass word to the shore no i will give you the right pass word said the a glow of enthusiasm lighting up his features it is christ in all and through all christ only christ the friend and brother of man the only divine teacher this world has ever had or ever will have you believe in him really truly then exclaimed the really truly and with all mv heart and soul i responded the cardinal firmly surely you too believe no said the firmly i do not i would as soon believe that the lad you have just rescued from the streets of is divine as that there is any divinity in the man of he rose up as he spoke in a kind of then started slightly as he found himself face to face with the boy had entered noiselessly and stood for a moment glancing from one priest of the church to the other a faint smile was on his face his blue eyes were full of light did you call me my lord cardinal he asked the cardinal looked up the master christian ill no my child i thought i heard you if you should need me i am close at hand he went away as quietly as he had entered and the same silence followed his departure as before a silence which was only disturbed occasional solemn and sweet of the distant music from the j a strange lad said abruptly strange in what way do you find him so asked the cardinal with a touch of anxiety the his brows and took a short turn up and down the room then he laughed upon my word i cannot tell you he declared with one of those gestures common to a gesture which may mean anything or nothing but he speaks too well and surely thinks too much for his years is there nothing further to tell of him save what you have already said nothing that you know of him beyond the plain bare fact of having found him weeping alone outside the doors of the cathedral nothing indeed replied the cardinal bewildered what else should there be the hesitated a moment and when he spoke again it was in a softer and graver tone forgive me i of course there could be nothing else with you you are so different to all other i have ever known still the story of your is exceptional you will own that it is somewhat out of the common course of things for a cardinal to suddenly constitute himself the protector and guardian of a small tramp for this boy is nothing else now if it were any other cardinal than yourself i should at once say that his eminence knew exactly where to find the mother of his exclaimed the cardinal forgive me i said forgive me as a to my remarks resumed i am talking and i am talking precisely as the world talks and as it always will talk the world may talk itself out of existence before it can hinder me from doing what i conceive to be my duty said calmly the lad is alone and the master christian absolutely it is but fitting and right that i should do what i can for him sat down and for a moment appeared absorbed in thought you are a curious man he at length observed and a more than curious priest i here you are assuming the of a boy concerning whom you know nothing when you might as well have handed him over to one of the for the poor or have paid for his care and education with some of the brethren established near but no you being eccentric feel as if you were personally responsible to god for the child simply because you found him lost and alone and therefore you have him with you it is very good | 33 |
of you we will call it great of you but it is not usual people will say you have a private motive you must remember that the world never gives you credit for doing a good action simply for the pure sake of doing it there must be something behind it all they say when the worst of the age begins to lose her beauty the prospect is so alarming that she thinks there may be a possible hell after all and she straightway becomes charitable and renowned for good works precisely in the same way as our famous stage stars knowing their lives to be less clean than the lives of their horses and their dogs give and altar and organs to the clergy it is all very amusing i assure you i have often laughed at it it is as if they took heaven by its private ear in confidence and said see now i want to put things straight with you if i can and if a few church ornaments and will you why take them and hold your tongue he paused but the cardinal was silent i know went on the that you think i am indulging in the worst kind of levity to talk in this way it sounds horrible to you and you perhaps think i cannot be serious my dear saint there never was a more serious man than i i would give worlds to believe as you do i have written books of religious discussion not because i wanted the notice of the world for them for that i do not care about but for the sake of out the subject for myself the master christian making my pen my i tell you i envy the woman who can say her with the simple belief that the virgin mary hears and takes delight in all those nothing would have given me greater pleasure than to have composed a volume of prayers of flowers such as an innocent girl could hold in hei hands and bend her sweet eyes over it would have been a taste of the spiritual or the which is the most exquisite of all human sensations there is no taint of in the purely spiritual said the cardinal not for your nature no i you have made your body like a transparent through which the glitter of the soul sword is almost visible but i am different i am so much of a that i like to pull down heaven to the warm bosom of earth and make them mingle you would lift up earth to heaven ah that is difficult i even christ came down it is the chief thing i admire in him that he descended from heaven and was made man i shall you to death with my and frivolous reasoning and after all i had much better come to the main fact of what i intended to tell you a sort of confession out of church you know i have already told you i am going to die soon and that i am a bad man and hopelessly but among other things is this and if you can give me any advice upon it i will take it that for the last four or five years i have been about to escape being murdered not because i particularly mind being murdered because i probably deserve it and one way of exit is as good as another but because i want to save the would be murderer from committing his crime is not that a good motive cardinal gazed at him in astonishment appeared to him in an entirely new light he had always known him as a careless cynical tempered man a close l clever writer and a brilliant and he had been inclined to consider him as a society priest one of those amiable yet personages who by the most and studied of manner succeed in weak minded of wealth especially women to the end of the master christian ing vast sums of money to the church obtaining by these means such rank and favour for themselves as would otherwise never have been granted to them but now the s frank admission of his own sins and seemed a proof of his inherent sincerity and sincerity whether found in or always commanded the cardinal s respect are you speaking in or in grave earnest he asked do you really mean that you are by some would be an too whom you actually wish to protect exactly and smiled with the air of one who admits the position to be curious but by no means alarming i want to save him from the and if he me i cannot it is a question of natural instinct merely the would be is my son cardinal raised his clear blue eyes and fixed them full on the this is a very serious matter he said gently surely it is best to treat it seriously oh i am serious enough god knows returned with a heavy but impatient sigh i suppose there is there must be some terribly exact concerned in the working of things else a man s past sins and failing being done with and over would not turn up any more but they do turn up the unseen counts every figure and of course trouble my story is simply this some twenty five years ago i was in i was a priest as i am now oh yes the sin is as black as the church can make it and one mid summer evening i strolled into a certain quaint old church of a certain quaint old town i need not name it and saw there a girl | 33 |
as sweet as an apple blossom kneeling in front of the altar i watched her i see her now the late sunlight through the stained glass window fell like a glory on her pretty hair and on the little white folded so across her bosom and on her small hands and the brown that was twisted round her fingers she was praying so she told me afterwards to her guardian angel i wonder what that personage was about just then i anyhow to her petition came no answer but a ii the master christian devil in me i made her love me i her by every subtle and persuasion i could think of i can never even now think of that time without wondering where all the eloquent evil of my tongue came from and well she never was able to ask the guardian angel any more and i think i loved her for a while but no i am not sure i believe there is no such good thing as absolute love in my composition anyway i soon left and had almost forgotten her when she wrote to tell me of the birth of her child a son i gave her no reply and then she wrote again such a letter such words at the mo ment they burnt me me positively hurt me and i was not then easily hurt she swore she would bring the boy up to curse his father and to put it quite briefly she did she died when he was twenty and it now appears the lad took an oath by her death bed that he would never rest till he had killed the man who had his mother and broken her heart and brought him into the world with a on his name no filial respect you see and tried to force a smile to do the boy justice he apparently means to keep his oath he has not rested he has been at infinite pains to discover me he has even been at the trouble to write me a warning letter and is now in paris watching me i in my turn take care to protect myself i am followed by and am at enormous pains to guard my life not for my own sake but for his an odd of circumstances is it not i cannot have him arrested because he would at once relate his history and my name would be ruined and that would be quite as good a vengeance for him as the other thing you will admit that it is a very dramatic situation it is a said the cardinal in a low voice and a terrible one yes i suppose it is i imagined you would consider it in that light and half closed his eyes leaning back in his chair languidly but here i am willing to set things as straight as i can and it really seems impossible to arrange matters i am to die soon according to the doctors and so i have made my will leaving everything i possess to this ridiculous boy who wishes to kill me and it is more than probable that he the master christian considering how he has been brought up and educated will cast all the money into the dirt and kick at my grave but what can i do nothing said the cardinal you can do nothing that is the worst of having inflicted a wrong upon the innocent you can never by any means it you can repent and it is probable that your very repentance your forgiveness at a higher than that of earth s judgment but the results of wrong cannot be wiped out or done away with in this life they continue to exist and alas often even the harsh or unjust word cannot be recalled and however much we may regret having uttered it somehow it is never forgotten but here leaning forward he laid one hand gently on s arm my dear friend my dear brother you have told me of your sin it is a great sin but god forbid that i should presume to judge you harshly when our lord himself declared that he came not to call the righteous but to repentance it may be that i can find a way to help you arrange for me to see this son of yours and i will endeavour to find a means of to him and to the memory of his mother before you pass away from us if indeed you are to pass away so soon under the levity you assume i perceive you have deep feeling on this matter you shall not die with a wrong on your soul you shall not if i can prevent it for there undoubtedly is another life you must go into it as purely as prayer and can make you i thought said the speaking somewhat that you might when you heard all some of rome s upon me what am i and what is rome compared with the master s own word said the cardinal gently if our brothers sin against us seventy times seven we are still to forgive and they are still our brothers judgments and of one another are not any part of our lord s commands rose up and held out his hand will you take it he said as a pledge that i will faithfully do whatever you may see fitting and right to the past and to clear my son s soul from the thirst of vengeance which is it ii the master christian cardinal clasped the extended hand warmly there is your answer he said with smile which his fine countenance with | 33 |
an almost supernatural beauty and tenderness you have against heaven and you have against the church and your own calling but the greatest sinner can do no more than repent and strive to make amends for i see you fully know and comprehend the extent of your sin yes i know it and s eyes were clouded and his brows i know it only too well greater than any fault of church discipline is a wrong to human life and i wronged and betrayed an innocent woman who loved me her soul was as sweet as the honey cup of a flower i poisoned it that was as bad as the i should have kept it sweet and pure i should have let the church go and been honest i should have seen to it that the child of my love grew up to honour his father not to merely live for the murder of him yes i know what i should have don e i know what i have not done and i am afraid i shall always know unless i can do something to i have a strange feeling that i shall pass from this world to the next and that the first thing i shall see will be her face her face as i saw it when the sunshine made a round her hair and she prayed to her guardian angel he shuddered slightly and his voice died away in a half whisper the cardinal pressed his hand again warmly and tenderly courage courage he said it is true we cannot do away with our memories but we can try and make them sweet and who knows how much god may help us in the task never forget the words that tell us how the angels rejoice more over one sinner that than over ninety and nine just persons ah and the smiled recovering somewhat of his usual manner and that is so faithfully enforced upon us is it not the churches are all so and society is so kind so gentle in its estimate of its friends our church for example has never persecuted a sinner has never tortured an it has been so patient and so in searching for stray sheep and bringing them back with love and ten the master christian and pity to the fold and never say anything which is or cruel and we all follow christ s teaching so accurately yes ah well i wonder i wonder what will be the end i i wonder why we came into life all i wonder why we go fortunately for me by and by there will be an end of all wondering and you can write above my tomb pace the idea of a new life is to me horrible i prefer or never have i read truer words than those of count o er the joys thine hours have seen count o er thy days from anguish free and know whatever thou hast been tis something better not to be i cannot think that is either true or good philosophy said the cardinal it is merely the utterance of a disappointed man in a mood there is no not to be in creation each morning that lights the world is an expression of to be and however much we may regret the fact my dear we find ourselves in a state of being and we must make the best of it not the worst is that not so his look was gentle and commanding his voice soft yet firm and the worldly felt somewhat like a child as he met the gaze of those clear true eyes that were by any or i suppose it is but unfortunately i have made the worst of it he answered and having made the worst i see no best who is that singing he lifted his hand with a gesture of attention as a rich rang out towards them per i h un non si sa dove h il se si col non si sa se non si va me i h in in i the master christian it is said the cardinal she has a fully sweet voice in per i murmured still listening it is like the cry of a lost soul or a strayed one interposed the cardinal gently and rising he took s arm and leaned upon it with a kindly and familiar grace an action which implied much more than the mere outward expression of confidence nothing is utterly lost my dear friend the very hairs of our head are numbered not a drop of dew escapes to waste how much more precious than a drop of dew is the spirit of a man it is not so declared who loved personally i think the dew is more valuable than the soul because so absolutely clean you must not bring every line of discussion to a pin s point said smiling as he walked slowly across the room still leaning on the s arm we can reduce our very selves to the condition of a dream if we take sufficient pains first to advance a theory and then to wear it nothing is so as human reasoning nothing so slippery and as what we have decided to call logic the truest compass of life is spiritual instinct and what of those who have no spiritual instinct demanded i do not think there are any such to us it certainly often seems as if there were masses of human beings whose sole idea of living is to gratify their bodily needs but i fancy it is only because we do not know them sufficiently that we judge them thus few if any are so utterly as never to have had some fleeting of the | 33 |
higher existence they may lack the force to comprehend it or to follow its teaching but in my opinion the divine is revealed to all men at least in their lives they had by this time passed out of the drawing room and now ascending three steps they went through a recess into s a large and lofty apartment made beautiful by the picturesque the master christian disorder and charm common to a great artist s surroundings here at a grand piano sat herself her song finished her white hands idly over the keys and near her stood the gentleman whom the had called a terrible and and who was generally admitted to be something of a remarkable character in europe tall and fair with very bright flashing eyes and a wonderfully high bred air of concentrated pride and resolution united to a grace and courtesy which from him so to speak with his every movement and gesture he was not a man to pass by without comment even in a crowd a peculiar marked him out of a marching regiment one would have naturally selected him as the commanding officer and in any crisis of particular social importance or interest his very appearance would have distinguished him as the leading spirit of the whole on perceiving the cardinal he advanced at once to be presented and as performed the ceremony of introduction he slightly bent one knee and bowed over the venerable s extended hand with a reverence which had in it something of tenderness his greeting of was while perfectly courteous not quite so marked by the grace of a strong man s submission ah mr so you have not left paris as soon as you determined the with a smile t thought you were bound for in haste i go to to morrow answered briefly so soon i am indeed glad not to have missed you said cardinal cordially my child let me see what you have been doing all your are covered or turned with their faces to the wall are we not permitted to look at any of them immediately rose from the piano and wheeled a large chair with a carved and gilded into the centre of the well if you want to see my sketches and they are only sketches she said yon must come and sit here now as her uncle obeyed her you look in state that is just fitted for you and you are a picture in yourself yes you are dearest uncle and not all the artists in the world could ever do you justice i the master christian will you sit just where you please and mr you have seen so it does not matter it matters very much said with a smile for i want to see everything again if i may i will stand here and he took up his position close to the cardinal s chair but where is the boy asked where is the of the cathedral he left us some minutes ago said he went to your room uncle was he pleased with the music asked the cardinal i think he enjoyed every note of it said a thoughtful lad he was very silent while i played but silence is often the most eloquent appreciation are we to be silent then over the work of the gaily must we not express our admiration if you have any admiration to express said carelessly setting as she spoke an facing the cardinal but i am afraid you will greatly of me and condemn all my work this year i should explain to you first that i am a very large picture i began it in rome some three years ago and it is in my there but i require a few french types of countenance in order to quite complete it the sketches i have made here are french types only they will all be in the larger canvas but they are roughly done just now this is the first of them i call it a servant of christ at the paris and she placed the canvas she held on the and stood aside while all three men looked at it with very eyes one with regret and pain the other with a sense of shame and the third with a thrill of strong delight in the power of the work and of triumph in the lesson it gave ix low brows b cruel mouth with a loosely projecting under lip eyes that appeared to be watching each other across the thin bridge of nose a receding chin and a narrow combined with an expression which was humble yet sly this was the type had chosen to nothing softening no line and introducing no point a type true to the life the face of a priest a servant of christ as she called him the title united with that wicked and repulsive countenance was a terribly significant suggestion for some minutes no one spoke and the cardinal was the first to break the silence my dear child he said in low strained tones i am sorry you have done this i it is powerful so powerful that it is painful as well it cuts me to the heart that you should find it necessary to select such an example of the though of course i am not in the secret of your aims i do not understand your purpose he broke off and who had stood silent looking as though she were lost in a dream took up his unfinished sentence you do not understand my purpose dearest uncle i hardly understand it myself i some force stronger than i am is urging me to paint the picture i have begun some influence more | 33 |
ardent and eager than my own like a fever in me persuading me to complete the design you blame me for choosing such an evil type of priest but there is no question of choice these faces are ordinary among our priests at all the churches sunday after sunday i have looked for a good a noble face in vain for an even commonly honest face in vain i and my useless search has ended by me with profound sorrow and disgust that so many low specimens of human intellect are selected as servants of our lord do not judge me too severely i that i have a work to do a lesson to give in x the master christian the work when done i may fail i may be told that as a woman i have no force and no ability to make any powerful or lasting impression on this generation but at any rate i feel that i must try i if priests of the church were like you how different it would all be i but you always forget that you are an exception to the rule you do not how very exceptional you are i i told you before i showed you this sketch that you would probably of it and condemn me but i really cannot help it in this matter nothing not even the ban of the church itself can me from what i have designed to do in my own soul she spoke passionately and with and the cardinal looked at her with something of surprise and trouble the fire of genius is as he knew a one and he had never entirely realized how completely it filled and this slight feminine creature for whom he felt an almost paternal tenderness before he could answer her the spoke is faithful to the truth in her sketch he said therefore as a lover of truth i do not see my dear why you should object if she has as she says some great aim in view she must fulfil it in her own way i quite agree with her in her estimate of the french priests they are for the most part persons only just a grade higher than their brothers of italy and spain but what would you have the iron hand of rome holds them back from progress they are speaking and acting lies and like the have to put on paint and powder to make the lies go down but when the paint and powder come oflf the religious is often as ill looking as the stage one has caught this particular example before he has had time to put on holy airs and turn up the what do you think about it mr i think as i have always thought said quietly that is an inspired artist and that being inspired it follows that she must carry out her own convictions whether suit the taste of others or not a servant of christ is a painful truth boldly declared was unmoved by the compliment implied she only glanced wistfully at the cardinal who still sat si the master christian lent then without a word she withdrew the offending sketch from the and set another in its place this she said gently is the portrait of an i need not name his he is very wealthy and excessively selfish i call this lord i thank thee that i am not as other men laughed as he looked he knew the pictured well the smooth countenance the little eyes comfortably sunken in small rolls of fat the smiling lips the gross neck and heavy jaw marks of high feeding and prosperous living and above all the perfectly self satisfied and mock pious air of the man these points were given with the firm touch of a master s brush and the after studying the picture closely turned to with a light yet bow you are stronger than ever surely you have improved much since you were last in paris your strokes are firmer your grasp is bolder have your french seen your work this year no replied i am resolved they shall see nothing till my picture is finished may one ask why a flash of disdain passed over the girl s face for a very simple reason i they take my ideas and use them and then when my work is produced they say it is who have copied from them and that women have no imagination i have been cheated once or twice in that way this time no one has any idea what i am doing no one not even no said smiling a little not even i want to surprise him in what way asked the cardinal rousing himself from his pensive reverie blushed by proving that perhaps after all a woman can do a great thing in art a really great thing she said designed greatly and greatly executed d s he not admit that knowing you asked oh he is most kind and sympathetic to me in my work explained quickly vexed to think that she had perhaps implied some little point that was not u t the master christian in her beloved one s favour but he is like most men they have a idea of women and of what their place should be in the world unchanged since the early phases of civilization when women were something less valuable than cattle said smiling oh the cattle idea is not exploded by any means i put in in germany and for example look at the women who are ground down to toil and hardship there the cows are infinitely prettier and more and lead much pleasanter lives and the men for whom these poor wretched women work about in all | 33 |
day smoking and playing the arrangement that a woman should be a man s and is quite satisfactory i think to the majority of our sex it is certainly an odd condition of things that the mothers of men should suffer most from man s cruelty but it is the work of an providence no doubt and you mr will swear that it is all right it is all right said quietly or rather i should say it will be all right and it would have been all right long ago if we had as puts it accepted the hint of each new experience but that is precisely what we will not do woman is the true of man and takes a natural joy in being so whenever we will allow it whenever we will give her scope for her actions freedom for her intelligence and trust for her instincts but for the present many of us still prefer to play savage the complete savage in low life the civilized savage in high the complete savage is found in the who makes a woman bear his children and then her to death the savage in high life is the man who equally the mother of his children but in another way namely by neglect and while he treats his numerous just as the treats the creatures of his merely as so many pretty soft animals requiring to be fed with sweets and ornamented with jewels and then to be cast aside when done with all pure but we are slowly from it into something better a few of us there are who honour womanhood a few of us believe in women as guiding stars in our troubled sky a few of us would the master christian work and climb to greatness for love of the one woman we would conquer all obstacles ay would die for her if need be or what is far more difficult would live for her the life of a hero and martyr yes such things are done and men can be found who will do such things all for a woman s sake there was a wonderful passion in his voice deep thrill of earnestness which carried conviction with sweetness cardinal looked at him with a smile you are perhaps one of those men mr he said i do not know i may be responded a flush rising to his cheeks but so far no woman has ever truly loved me save my mother but apart from all i am a great in women the love of a good woman is a most powerful to raise man to greatness i do not mean by good the creature no for that is a sort of woman who does more mischief in her so called life than a very i mean by good a strong pure great soul in woman sincere faithful patient full of courage and calm and with this i maintain she must prove a truly god given to man for we are rough creatures at best irritable creatures too you see and here a slight smile lighted up his delicate features we really do try more or less to reach heights that are beyond us we are always fighting for a heaven of some sort whether we make it of gold or politics or art it is a heaven or a happiness that we want we would be as gods we would scale and sometimes refuses to be and then we tumble down very cross very sore very much ruffled and it is only a woman who can comfort us then and by her love and tenderness mend our broken limbs and put on our wounded pride well then surely the church is in a very bad way said smiling think of the vow of perpetual cannot do away with woman s help or influence said there are always mothers and sisters instead of and wives i am in favour of for the clergy i think a minister of christ should be free to work for and serve christ only the master christian you are quite right mr said the cardinal there is more than enough to do in every day of our lives if we desire to truly follow his commands but in this present time alas religion is becoming a question of form not of heart dearest uncle if you think that you will not judge me too severely for my pictures said quickly throwing herself on her knees beside him do you not see it is just because the ministers of christ are so that i have taken to studying them in my way which is i know not your way still i think we both mean one and the same thing you are a woman said the cardinal gently and as a woman you must be careful of oh a woman exclaimed her beautiful eyes flashing with mingled tenderness and scorn and her whole face lighting up with animation only a woman she must not give a grand lesson to the world she must not by means of brush or pen point out to a corrupt generation the way it is going why because god has created her to be the of man excellent reason man is taking a direct straight road to destruction and she must not stop him by so much as lifting a warning finger again why only because she is a woman but i were i twenty times a woman twenty times weaker than i am and by every sort of and usage i would express my thoughts somehow or die in the attempt exclaimed well said well said but i am the mocking demon always as you know | 33 |
and i should almost be tempted to say that you will die in the attempt i do not mean that you will die physically no you will probably live to a good old age people who suffer always do but you will die in the sense you will grow the of the in your hands and feet you will bear terrible marks of the nails into your flesh by your dearest friends you will have to wear a crown of thorns set on your brows no doubt by those whom you most love and the and will be very quickly mixed and to you by the whole world of criticism without a moment s hesitation and ou will probably have to endure your agony alone the master christian as nearly runs away from a declared truth or if they pause at all it is only to spit upon it and call it a lie do not so cruel a fate for the child said the cardinal tenderly taking s hand and drawing her towards him she has a great gift i am sure she will use it greatly and true greatness is always acknowledged in the end yes when the author or the artist has been in the grave for a hundred years or more said i am not sure that it would not be better for s happiness to marry the amiable at once rather than paint her great picture do you not agree with me mr was turning over an old volume of prints in a and abstracted fashion but on being addressed looked up quickly i would rather not presume to give an opinion he somewhat coldly it is only on the occasions that a woman s life is balanced between love and fame and the two gifts are seldom bestowed together she generally has to choose between them if she love she is often compelled to forego fame because she herself too closely into the existence of another to stand by her own individuality if on the other hand she chooses fame men are generally afraid of or jealous of her and leave her to herself however is a fortunate exception she has secured both fame and love he hesitated a moment before saying the last words and his brows contracted a little but did not see the slight cloud of vexation that darkened his eyes his words pleased her and she smiled ah mr sees how it is with me she said he knows what good cause i have to be happy and to do the best work that is in me it is all to make proud of me and he is proud and he will be i vou must just see this one more sketch taken from life it is the head of one of our most noted i call it for the present a it was a wonderful study perhaps the strongest of the three she had shown it was the portrait of a thin fine intellectual face which in its every line suggested the master christian an intense and almost dreadful curiosity the brows were high yet narrow the eyes clear and cold and pitiless in their straight regard the lips thin and compressed the nose delicate with thin open nostrils like those of a trained hound on the scent of blood it was a three quarter length picture showing the hand of the man slightly raised and holding a surgeon s knife a wonderful hand rather small with fingers that are generally termed artistic and a firm wrist which had worked at patiently carefully the practised muscles employed and developed in the s ghastly business stood contemplating it intently i think it is really the finest of all the types he said presently one can grasp that man s character so thoroughly there is no pity in him no sentiment there is merely an to break open the great treasure house of life by fair means or it is very terrible but very powerful i know the man said did he sit to you willingly very willingly indeed i replied he was quite amused when i told him frankly that i wanted him as a type of educated and refined cruelty oh these fellows see nothing in their work said and such things go on among them as make the strongest man sick to think of i i know of two cases now in a hospital the are but the have given them hope of recovery through an operation which however in their cases will be no operation at all but simply the poor creatures have to die anyhow it is true but death might come to them less terribly the however will operate and kill them a little more quickly in order to grasp certain unknown of their disease looked at him with wide open eyes of pain and amazement horrible she murmured absolutely horrible i can nothing be done to interfere with or to stop such cruelty nothing i fear said i have been abroad some time studying various phases of its so called the master christian intellectual and scientific life and have found many of these phases nothing but an of the savages of are more pitiful than the french or italian and the horrors that go on in the would not be believed if they were told would not be believed they would be denied even by the men who are engaged in them and were i to write a plain statement of what i know to be true and send it to an english journal it would not be put in not even in support of the anti society lest it might offend the foreign schools of and also perhaps lest english schools might prove not altogether free from similar | 33 |
crimes if however by chance such a statement were published it would be met with an indignant chorus of denial from every quarter of accusation i how then can justice be obtained from what i call the new the old time tortured their kind for religion s sake the modern ones do it in the name of science but the the the savage love of cruelty are all the same in both instances cardinal shuddered as he heard lord christ where art thou he thought where is thy spirit of tenderness and care how is thy command of love one another obeyed i aloud he said surely such deeds even in the cause of science ought not to be permitted in a christian city christian city and laughed you would not apply that to paris would you paris is hopelessly pagan nay not even pagan for the had gods and paris has none neither jove nor nor as for tiie christ he is made the subject of many a public yes you may see them in the side streets upon the walls and and also of many a low but he is not accepted as a teacher nor even as an example his reign is over in paris at least stop said the cardinal rising suddenly i forbid you to tell me these things i if they are true then shame upon you and upon all the clergy of this unhappy city to stand by and let such disgrace to yourselves and to our master exist without j the master christian his tall spare figure assumed a commanding g and authority his pale face flushed and his eyes sparkled he looked inspired a very burning with righteous indignation his words seemed to have the of an electric shock on the he started as though stung by the lash of a whip and drew himself up then meeting the cardinal s straight glance his head drooped and he stood mute and rigid though conscious of embarrassment as the witness of a strong reproof administered by one of the church to yet felt deeply interested in the scene shrank back trembling and for a few moments which though so brief seemed painfully long there was a dead silence then spoke in low stifled accents you are perfectly right i it is shame to me and to the of france i i am no worse than the rest of my class but i am certainly no better your reproach is grand and just i i accept it and ask your pardon i he bent one knee touched the cardinal s ring with his lips and then without another word turned and left the room the cardinal gazed after his retreating figure like a man in a dream then he said gently go after him call him back but it was too late had left the house before could overtake him she came back hurriedly to say so with a pale face and troubled look her uncle patted her kindly on the shoulder well well it will not hurt him to have seen me angry he said smiling anger in a just cause is permitted i seem to have frightened you of a truth i have rather frightened myself there we will not talk any more of the evils of paris mr perhaps thinks me an christian on the contrary i think you are one of the few faithful that i have ever met said of course i am out of it in a way because i do not belong to the roman church i am supposed i say supposed to be a church of england man or to put it more a and i certainly am so much of the latter that i protest against all our systems altogether the master christian is that quite just asked gently perhaps not but what is one to do i am not alone in my ideas one of our english has been the fact that out of a thousand lads in a certain parish nine hundred and ninety nine of them never go to church well what can you expect i do not blame those nine hundred and ninety nine at all i am one with them never go to church why simply because i never find any touch of the true spirit of christ there and the whole tone of the place makes me feel distinctly un christian the nine ninety nine youths possibly would with me a church is a building more or less beautiful or ugly as the case may be and in the building there is generally a man who reads prayers in a sing song tone of voice and perhaps another man who without eloquence on some text which he utterly fails to see the true meaning of there are no charles nowadays if there were i should call myself a but as matters stand i am not moved by the church to feel religious i would rather sit quietly in the fields and hear the gentle leaves whispering their joys and above my head than listen to a human creature who has not even the education to comprehend the simplest of nature daring to assert himself as a teacher of the divine my own chief object in life has been and still is to speak on this and similar subjects to the people who are groping after lost christianity they need helping and i want to try in my way to help them groping alter lost christianity echoed the cardinal those words are a terrible mr yet in your own soul your eminence admits it to be true returned quickly i can see the admission in your eyes in the very expression of your face you feel in yourself that | 33 |
the true spirit of christ is lacking in all the churches of the present day that the sheep are for lack of the shepherd and that the wolf is in the fold i you know it you feel it you see it cardinal s head drooped god help me and forgive me i am afraid ao the master christian said sorrowfully i see the shadow of the storm before it draws nigh i feel the terror of the earthquake before it shakes down the edifice no the world is not with christ to day and unhappily it is a fact that christ s ministers in recent years have done more to him from humanity than any other power could ever have succeeded in doing not by action but by lack of protest lack of courage only a few stray souls stand out firm and fair in the chaos only a few i know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot i would thou cold or hot so because thou art and neither cold nor hot i will thee out of my mouth quoted his eyes flashing and his voice trembling with repressed earnestness that is the trouble all through dead and ah i believe there are some of us living now who are destined to see strange and terrible things in this new century for myself said the cardinal slowly i think there is not much time left us i feel a of divine wrath threatening the world and when i study the aspect of the times and see the pride and wealth worship of men i cannot but think the days are drawing near when our master will demand of us account of our service it is just the same as in the case of the individual wrong when it seems as if punishment were again and again and mercy shown yet if all benefits blessings and are then at last the bolt falls suddenly and with terrific so with nations so with churches so with the world his voice grew feeble and his eyes were clouded with pain you are fatigued said gently and i ought not to have stayed so long i will bid you farewell now if i am in rome when you are there i trust you will permit me to pay my respects to you it will be a pleasure to see you my son answered the cardinal pressing his hand and courteously preventing him from making the formal and let me add that it will help me very much to hear from you what progress you make in your intention of working for the master christian for when you speak to the people as a teacher it is in his name is it not in his name and i pray in his spirit said but not through any church the cardinal sighed but said no more and turned to good bye he said i may come and see the picture in rome you may indeed and gave him her hand in frank friendliness i shall feel the necessity of your criticism and the value of your opinion he looked at her intently for a moment be of good courage he then said in a low tone work out your own salvation it is the only way i fulfil the expression of your whole heart and soul and mind and never heed what opposing forces may do to hinder you you are so clear so that i cannot imagine your doing anything that shall not create a power for good you are sometimes inclined to be afraid of the of your own in the picture you are dreaming of i can see that but do not fear i the higher influences are with you and in you give yourself up to them with absolute confidence good bye god bless you he stooped and kissed her hand then left the room looked after him and a half sigh escaped her lips unconsciously the cardinal watched her with rather a troubled look after a little silence he said you must pardon me my child if i seemed over hasty in my judgment of your work dearest uncle do not speak of it i exclaimed you were pained and sorry to see such a servant of christ as the type i chose you could not help expressing your feeling it was natural yes i was vexed i own it went on for i know many priests poor patient simple men who do their best for our lord according to their measure and men who deserve all honour all love all respect for the integrity of their lives still i am aware that these are in the and that men of the kind your sketch compose alas the majority there is a frightful of evil influences in the world industry and commerce and science r the master christian and yet a noble and upright standard of conduct among men is sadly lacking men are seeking for happiness in and find nothing but and misery and misery which become so that very often suicide presents itself as the only way out of such a of wretchedness i yes child all this is true and if you think you have a lesson to give which will be useful in these dark days no one i least of all should presume to hinder you from giving it still remember that the results of work are not with the to determine they rest with god truly i hope they do said fervently for then all bad work will pass away and only the good and necessary remain that always is the rule said the cardinal no criticism can kill good work or bad so be happy | 33 |
but after all i like the and and devils faces up here better than the and and devils down there below on the i call this heaven and down there in the streets hell yes truly it is wholesome up here the sky seems very near and the beasts do no harm but down in the streets one feels and smells the dirt and danger directly i sit here all by myself for hours thinking when no one comes to visit the tower for sometimes a whole day passes and no one wishes to ascend and there is a moral in that if one has eyes to see it days pass years in the world and no one wishes to ascend to heaven i mean to go down to hell is delightful and is ready for it it is at night that the platform here is the master christian most beautiful oh yes at night it is very fine but it is only and who call me up in the night hours yet when they do i never refuse to go with them for look you i am a light and have no wife to bid me keep my bed yes if the authorities knew that i took anybody up to the tower at night they would probably dismiss me and he chuckled like an old with a sense of his own innate mischief and but you see they do not know and i learn a great deal from the strange persons who come at night much more than from the strange persons who come by day now the last so strange person that came here by night you would not perhaps believe it but it was a priest yes and the old fellow laughed a priest who had suddenly found out that the church was not following its master yes yes just fancy killing himself for that killing himself cried the cardinal what do you mean you would like to hear the story ah take care mon he cried as he perceived standing lightly near the brink of the platform and stretching out his arms towards the city thou art not a bird to fly from that edge in the air what dost thou see paris replied the boy in strangely sorrowful accents turning his young wistful face towards the cardinal his hair blown back in the light wind all paris ah tis a fine sight all paris said the old guide one of the finest in the world to judge by the outside of it but the inside is a very different matter and if paris is not a doomed city then there is no god and i know nothing of the bible it has got all the old sins in a new shape and in them and of the story of the priest if you would hear it ah that is well he said as left the giddy verge of the platform where he had been standing and drew near it is safer to be away from that edge my child and for the poor priest it happened in this way it was a fair night and the moon was high i was off in a chair in my room below when the bell rang quickly yet softly i got up pleasure for i said to myself here is an artist or a poet one of those persons who are unlike anyone else just as i am myself unlike anyone else and so we two the master christian shall have a pleasant evening but when i opened the door there was no one but a priest and poor looking even at that and he was young and pale and very uneasy in liis manner and he said to me that is my name let me pass up to the platform willingly said i if i may go with you nay i would rather be alone he answered that may not be i told him i am as pleased to see the shining on the beasts and devils as any man and i shall do you no harm by my company well he agreed to have me then and up we went the three hundred and seventy eight steps it is a long way and he mounted quickly i slowly but always keeping my eye upon him at last we reached this platform and the moonlight was beautiful and clear as day then my little priest sat down and began to laugh ha my he said is it not droll that this should be all a lie all this fine building and all the other fine buildings of the kind in paris i strange my is it not that this cathedral should be raised to the worship of a god whom no one or even thinks of obeying all show my good all to feed priests like me and keep them going but god has nothing to do with it nothing at all i swear to you you may be right mon reverend i said for i saw he was not in a mood to be argued with yet truly the cathedral has not always been a place of in seventeen ninety three there was not much of our lord or the blessed saints in it no you are right i he cried down came the statue of the virgin and up went the statue of liberty there was the crimson of the torch of truth and the of the and the took the places of st peter and st paul i ha and they worshipped the goddess of reason reason by the true to the life my that kind of worship has lasted in paris until now it goes on | 33 |
it for after all christ himself did not judge any one in any case he came to save us all not to punish us then why does not remember that and try to save one another rather than to condemn asked suddenly they had reached the bottom of the tower and old his eyes from the glare of the daylight with one wrinkled hand looked at the boy with a smile of compassionate interest why does not remember why does not do as he did ah that is a question you are young and you will find out many answers to it before you are much older one fact is sure that if everybody did remember him and lived exactly as he wished we should have a new heaven and a new earth and i will tell you something else and the old fellow looked sly and mischievous no offence meant no offence but there would be no churches and no priests believe me i speak the truth but this would be a great happiness and is not to be our portion yet good day a thousand for my wicked speech good day good day responded the cardinal gently be careful of your night visitors my friend do not for the future leave them alone to plunge into the infinite without a warning the old man smiled truly i am generally careful i do not know when i have spoken so freely to anyone as i have to you for i am generally in a bad humour with all church and of course i know you for a cardinal by your dress while you might truly be a saint from your manner so i should have held my tongue about the flight into the air of the little priest but you will say nothing for you are discreet and even if you did and i were asked about it i should know nothing oh yes i can tell lies as fast as anybody else yes truly i do not suppose anyone not even an himself could me in lying and are you not ashamed to lie asked with the master christian an intense of pain in his voice as he put the question heaven bless you no replied cheerfully for is not the world kept going by lies dear me if we all told the truth there would be an end of everything i am a philosopher in my way and i assure you that a real serious truth told in paris without any upon it would be like an earthquake in the city great houses would come down and numbers of people would be killed by it good day good day and still smiling and the of the north tower retired into his den there to await fresh the cardinal walked slowly to the corner of the street where his carriage awaited him his head bent and his eyes downcast stepped lightly along beside him glancing at his pale face from time to time with a grave and tender compassion when they were seated in the vehicle and driving the boy spoke you grieve too much for others dear friend you are now distressed because you have heard the story of one unhappy man who sought to find god by self and you are pained also lest another man should lose god altogether by the deliberate telling of lies all such mistakes and follies of the world weigh heavily on your heart but they should not do so for did not christ suffer all this for you when he was the cardinal sighed deeply yes my child but he told us plainly why he suffered it was that v e might learn to follow him and that there should be less suffering for the future and surely we have not obeyed him or there could not be so much pain and difficulty in the world as there is now if he come again you think he would be grieved and disappointed in his followers softly if he came again i fear he would not find much of his teaching in any of the founded on his name if he came again then indeed might the churches tremble and fall if he came again pursued still in the same soft even voice how do you think he would come watch ye therefore ye know not when he i the master christian murmured the cardinal my dear child i think if he came again it would be perhaps in the disguise of one who is poor and despised and rejected of men as when he first the earth by his presence and i fear that in such plight he would find himself as before unwelcome made no reply just then as they had arrived at home the servant who admitted them told them that had a visitor in her so that the cardinal and his young attendant went straight to their own apartments read to me then said himself near the window and looking out on the rich foliage of the woods and grassy slopes that stretched before him find something in the that will fit what we have seen to day i am tired of all these temples and churches these gorgeous and they represent and thank no doubt but to me they seem useless a church should not be a shrine for worldly stuff unless indeed such things are used again for the relief of poverty and suffering but they are not used they are simply kept under lock and key and allowed to while human creatures dwelling perhaps quite close to these are allowed to die of starvation did you think this when you spoke to the priest who was offended with you to day yes i thought it replied gently but then he said i was a when one loves god | 33 |
better than the church is one called a cardinal looked earnestly at the boy s inspired face the face of a dreaming angel in its deep earnestness if so then i am he answered slowly i love the creator as made manifest to me in his works i love him in every flower which i am privileged to look upon i find him in every art and science i worship him in a temple not made with hands his own majestic universe i above all churches above all and systems i love him i and as declared in the divine humanity of christ i believe in and him if this makes me unworthy to be his priest and servant then i confess my i he had spoken these words more to himself than man the master christian and in his had closed his eyes and clasped his hands and he almost fancied that a soft touch light as a falling rose leaf had for a second rested on his brow he looked up quickly wondering whether it was who had so touched him the boy was certainly near him but was already seated with the testament open ready to read as requested the cardinal raised himself in his chair a sense of lightness and freedom and ease possessed him the hopeless and tired feeling which had a few minutes since weighed him down with an languor was gone and his voice had gained new strength and energy when he once more spoke you have found words of our lord which will express what we have seen to day he asked yes replied and he read in a clear tone unto you and because ye build the of the and the of the righteous here he paused and said while the cardinal gazed at him is not that true of paris there is their g eat where most of their lie their poets and their teachers whom they wronged and in their lifetime my child interrupted gently poets and so called teachers are not always good men one named who at god and the doctrine of in france is buried there nevertheless he also was a prophet persisted in his quiet half half way a prophet of evil he was the of the future spirit of paris he lived as a warning of what was to come a warning of the wolves that were ready to descend upon the master s fold but paris was then perhaps in the care of those who are mentioned here as caring not for the sheep he turned a few pages and continued reading well hath of you as it is written this people me with their lips but their heart is far from me in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrine the of man the master christian he the last few words and looked up at the cardinal then he went on will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for will save his life shall lose it but shall lose his life for my sake the same shall save it yes said cardinal fervently it is all there will come after me let him deny himself let him deny himself that is the secret of it i and this age is one of self indulgence we are on the wrong road all of us both church and and if the master should come he will not find us watching but sleeping he broke off as at that moment a knock came at the door and a servant entered the room bringing him a letter it was from the and ran as follows i preach the day after tomorrow at dame de and if you wish to do a favour to a dying man you will come and hear me i am moved to say things i have never said before and it is possible i may astonish and perchance paris what me i do not know perhaps your well deserved reproach of the other day perhaps the beautiful smile of the angel that dwells in s eyes perhaps the chance meeting with your on the stairs as i was flying away from your just wrath he had been gathering roses in the garden and gave me one with a grace in the giving which made the flower valuable it still lives and in a glass on my writing table at which i have been down the notes of what i mean to say what i mean to say there is more in those words than there seems if you could but guess all i shall trust to the day itself for the necessary eloquence the congregation that at the is a curious and a mixed one of the stage and the are among the of rank and fashion who worship the male and the golden youth of paris who the very points of the shoes of the female ones are generally there also it is altogether what or dame would call a fast audience and the fact that i have arranged to preach there will draw a still the master christian greater mixture and faster quality as i am alas z fashion in i pray you to come or i shall think you have not forgiven me cardinal folded the letter and put it aside with a curious feeling of compassion for the writer yes i will go he thought i have never heard him preach though i know by report that he is popular i was told once that he seems to be possessed by a very demon of mockery and that it is this spirit which makes his attraction for the people but i hope it is something more than that i hope here interrupting his | 33 |
meditations he turned to so you gave the a rose the other day my child yes replied he looked sad when i met him and sometimes a flower gives pleasure to a person in sorrow the cardinal thought of his own roses far away and sighed with a sensation of longing and flowers are like visible messages from god he said messages written in all the brightest and loveliest colours i never gather one without finding out that it has something to say to me there is a legend said which tells how a poor g who has lost every human creature she loved on earth had a rose tree she was fond of and every day she found upon it just one bloom and though she longed to gather the flower for herself she would not do so but always placed it before the picture of the christ and god saw her do this as he sees everything at last quite suddenly she died and when she found herself in heaven there were such crowds and crowds of angels about her that she was bewildered and could not find her way all at once she saw a pathway edged with roses before her and one of the angels said these are all the roses you gave to our lord on earth and he has made them into a pathway for you which will lead you straight to those you love and so with great joy she followed the of the path seeing her roses all the way and she found all those whom she had loved and lost on earth waiting to welcome her at the the master christian a pretty fancy said the cardinal smiling and as not even a thought is wasted who knows if it might not prove true surely the beautiful must be the true always said not so my child a fair face may hide an evil soul but only for a little while answered the boy the evil soul must leave its impress on the face in time if life lasts long enough that is quite possible said in fact i think it often happens only there are some people who the outward show of goodness and purity perfectly while inwardly they are as wolves and they never seem to drop the mask others again here he paused and looked anxiously at his young companion i wonder what you will be like when you grow up but if i never grow up what then asked with a smile never grow up you mean i mean if i die said or pass through what is called dying before i grow up god forbid i said the cardinal gently i would have you live but why persisted since death is a better life looked at him wistfully but if you grow up and are good and great you may be wanted in the world he said an expression of deep pain swept like a shadow across the boy s fair open brow oh no he said quietly the world does not want me i and yet i love the world not because it is a world for there are millions upon millions of worlds they are as numerous as flowers in a garden but because it is a sorrowful world a mistaken world and because all the creatures in it have something of god in them yes i love the world but the world does not love me he spoke in a tone of gentle pathos with the resigned and patient air of one who feels the burden of solitude and the sense of and closing the testament he held he rested his clasped hands upon it and for a moment seemed lost in sorrowful reverie the master christian i love you said the cardinal tenderly and i will take care of you as well as i can looked up at him and that will be well indeed my lord cardinal i he said softly and you serve a master who will hereafter say to you remembering your goodness verily in as ye have done it unto the least of my brethren ye have done it unto me he smiled and the cardinal meeting his glance wondered whether it was the strong level light of the sinking sun through the window pane that made such a glory shine upon his face and gave such a brilliancy to his deep aad steadfast eyes xl meanwhile was detained in her by the fascinating company and bewildering chatter of a charming and very well known personage in europe a dainty exquisitely dressed piece of with the figure of a and the complexion of a lady the an of the prettiest and most type who being a thorough in spirit and having a large fortune at her disposal travelled everywhere saw everything and spent great sums of money not only in amusing herself but in doing good wherever she went by society in general she was thoroughly heartless when as a matter of fact she had too much heart and gave her of sympathy somewhat too poor people worshipped her the majority of the rich envied her because most of them had ties and she had none she might have married scores of times but she took a perverse pleasure in drawing on her admirers till they were just on the giddy brink of matrimony then darting off altogether she left them bewildered confused and not a little angry they tell me i cannot love she was saying now to who sat in pleased silence studying her form her colouring and her animated expression with all the of an artist who knows how difficult it is to catch the swift and flashes of beauty on the face of a pretty woman who is intelligent as well as personally charming they tell me i have no | 33 |
heart at all me no heart i am all heart but to love one of those stupid heavy men who think that just to pull a moustache and smile is sufficient to make a conquest ah no not for me yet i am now in love truly ah you laugh and she laughed herself shaking her pretty head adorned with its delicate creation in and feathers which was supposed to be a hat yes i am in love with the the master christian ah le beau he is so extraordinary so beautiful so wicked it must be that i love him or why should i trouble myself about him she spread out her tiny hands with a delightful little shrug of her shoulders and again laughed he is good looking certainly she said he is very like they might almost be brothers ce exclaimed the gaily the greatest actor in europe yes truly i go to the theatre to look at him and i almost fancy i am in love with him instead of till i remember he stage ah then i shudder and my shudder my love after all it is only his resemblance to the that causes the love and perhaps the shudder laughed can you not be serious what do you mean i mean what i say declared used to be the darling of all the sentimental old maids and little school girls who did not know him off the stage in paris in rome in in always a conqueror of ignorant women who saw him in his beautiful make up yes he was perfectly delightful this big till he became his own manager and his own leading actor as well what it is to be a manager do you know it is to keep a like a grand and woe the woman who the company without understanding that she is to be one of the many the is the leading lady poor he must have many little to feed his flame oh you look so shocked but the is just like him he also stage in what way ah he has an enormous theatre the world a big stage society the is always being and he plays his part so well he has what the call morals they are so charming and he will not marry he says why give myself to one when i can make so many happy and why will not i be one of those many why will i not yield to the embraces of le beau not to marry him oh no i so ire a ai the master christian could not have his wings dipped and why will i not see the force of this she stopped for sprang towards her exclaiming i do you mean to tell me that the is such a villain dear little flame of genius how you blaze cried catching her friend by the hand and kissing it do not call a villain he is too charming and he is only like a great many other men he is a bold and passionate person i rather like such characters and i really am afraid afraid here she hesitated then resumed he loves me for the moment and i i very much fear i love him for a little longer than that c est terrible he is by no means worthy of it no but what does that matter we women never count the cost of loving we simply love if i see much of him i shall probably sink into the latin of love for there is a latin as well as a high class in the passion i prefer the i confess because it is so high and respectable and clean and grand but said you must come away from paris you must not see this man that is what i have arranged to do said her beautiful violet eyes flashing with mirth and malice i am flying from paris i shall perhaps go to rome in order to be near you you are a living safety in a storm you are so serene and calm and then you have a lover who believes in the ideal and perfect sympathy smiled and noted tke warm and tender flush of pleasure that spread over her fair face yes is an she said there is nothing of the brute in him and you think a brute yes i suppose he is but i have sometimes thought that all men are very much alike except she paused looking rather and with a touch of compassion at well you deserve to be happy child and i hope you will be for myself i am going to run away from le with as much speed as ii i had stolen his watch the master christian it is the best thing you can do said with a little sigh of relief i am glad you are resolved rose from her chair and moved about the with a pretty air of impatience if his love for me could last she said i might i would love him with truth and passion and i would so influence him that he should become one of the most brilliant leading men of his time for he has all the of genius but they are and the joys of self indulgence appeal to him more strongly than high ambition and and he could not love any women for more than a week or a month at most in which temperament he exactly the celebrated now i do not care to be loved for a week or a month wish to be loved for always for always she said with emphasis just as | 33 |
your loves you s eyes grew soft and pensive few men are like she said again looked at her doubtfully and there was a moment s silence then resumed will you help me to give a little lesson to le willingly if i can but how in this way it is a little drama to morrow is saturday and you receive paris artistic paris at any rate flocks to your your uncle the cardinal is known to be with you and your visitors will be still more numerous i have promised to meet him here i am to give him his answer to what to his proposal of marriage dear me no and smiled but there was a look of pain in her eyes he has an house buried in the st and he wants me to take possession you know the rest he is a villain yes he is like who has a luxurious flat in paris and sends each lady of his there in turn how angry you look but my dear i am not going to the house in the and i shall not meet him here he will come looking charming as usual and he will wait for me but i shall not arrive all i want you to the master christian for me is to receive him very kindly talk to him very sweetly and tell him quite suddenly that i have left paris what good will that do could you not write it to him of course i could write it to him but here paused and turned away her head moved by quick instinct went to her and put her arm around her waist now there are tears in your eyes she said you are suffering for this man s and cruelty for it is heartless it is insulting and selfish and cruel to offer you nothing but if he knows you love him took out a tiny of a lace handkerchief and dried her tears no i will not have him called heartless or cruel she said he is merely one of his class there are hundreds like him in paris never mind my tears they are nothing there are hundreds of women who would accept his proposals and he thinks i must be like them ready to fall into his arms like a ripe at a touch he thinks all i say to him is an assumed affectation of virtue and that he can easily break down that slight he tells me i am a charming preacher but that he could never learn anything from sermons she laughed oh he is but i want you to let him know that for once he is mistaken will you and you shall not have to say even the smallest of an your news will be quite correct for i leave paris to morrow morning she was very quiet now as she spoke her brilliant were dark with thought and her delicate face wore a serious almost melancholy expression dear said kissing her soft cheek you really care for this wretched man i am not sure she answered with a touch of hesitation in her voice i think i do and yet despise myself for it but who knows what wonders change of air and scene may work you see if i go away he will forget at once and will trouble himself about me no more are you sure of that hesitated the master christian well no i cannot be quite certain you see no woman has ever avoided him it will be quite a new experience for him and a strange one her laughter out on the air positively i do not think he will ever get over it i begin to understand said you wish to make this man of the world that a woman may be beautiful and brilliant and independent and yet live a pure good life amid numerous temptations yes i wish him to feel that all women are not to be led away by flattery or even by the desire to be loved which is the hardest temptation of all to resist i nothing so hard as that nothing so hard i have often thought what a contemptible creature s was to allow herself to be tempted to with a box of jewels jewels worthless i would not cross the road to look at the biggest diamond in the world but to be loved to feel that you are all in all to one man out of the whole world that would be glorious that i have never felt that i shall never know looked at her what a strange thing it was she thought that this pretty creature with her bright ways should be craving for love while she was elected to the happiness of having the absolute devotion of such an ideal lover as but i am becoming quite tragic in my remarks went on her usual gaiety as they say if i go on in this manner i shall to be the next leading lady to good bye i will not tell you where i am going lest should ask you and then you would have to commit yourself to a falsehood it is enough to say i have left paris shall i see you again soon said holding her by both hands and looking at her anxiously yes very soon before the winter is over at any rate you sweet calm happy i wonder if anything could ever whip you in a storm would you like to see me in a stormy humour asked smiling no not exactly but you are too quiet too secure too satisfied in your art and your surroundings the master christian and you do not enter at all into the passions and of other people you | 33 |
mock pardon but there is no at all about the very serious position in which i find myself he said you as a woman have not the slightest idea of the anxiety and trouble your charming sex gives to ours that is of course when you are charming which is not always now your friend is so distinctly charming that she becomes provoking and i am sure she has told you i am a terrible villain she has never said so never spoken one word against you i interposed no that is curious very curious but then is curious you see the position is this wish to give her all i am worth in the world but she will not have it i wish to love her but she will not be loved perhaps said gaining courage to speak plainly perhaps your love is not linked with honour honour echoed the lifting his finely arched eyebrows you mean marriage i confess i am not guilty of so much impudence for why should the brilliant become the it would be a most unhappy fate for her because if there were a my principles would oblige me to her you would your own wife said surprised the master christian naturally it is the fashion to love one s wife would be nothing more absurd i it is the height of good form to neglect one s wife and one s mistress the arrangement works perfectly and keeps a man well balanced perpetual complaint on one side perpetual delight on the other he laughed and his eyes are you serious asked i never was more serious in my life declared the emphatically with all my heart i wish to make the delicious pink and white happy i am sure i could succeed in my way if i should ever allow myself to do such a dull thing as to marry imagine it such a dull and altogether thing my gardener did it yesterday i should of course choose a person with a knowledge of housekeeping and small details her happiness it would be quite unnecessary to consider the maintenance of the establishment the servants and the ever increasing train of and would be enough to satisfy madame la s but for half fairy half angel as she is there must be poetry and moonlight flowers and romance and music and tender marriage does not with these delights if you were a little school girl dear i should not talk to you in this way it would not be proper it would of lord and and and various other wicked persons it would g ve you what the dear would call les but being an artist a great artist you will understand me now you yourself you will not marry i am to be married next year if all is well to said surely you know that i have heard it but i will not believe it said the no no you will never marry this do not tell me of it you yourself will regret it it is impossible you could not submit to matrimonial bondage if you were plain and awkward i should say to you marry and marry quickly it is the only thing for you but being what you are charming and gifted why should you be married for protection every man who has once had the honour of meeting you will constitute himself your by natural instinct for the master christian respectability ah but marriage is no longer respectable the whole estate of matrimony is as full of and corruption as the french war office he threw himself back in his chair and laughed running one hand through his hair with a provoking manner of indifferent ease and i cannot argue with you on the matter said rather your ideas of life never will be mine women look at these things differently poor dear women yes they do said the and that is such a pity they spoil all the pleasure of their lives now just think for a what your friend is losing i a devoted ardent and passionate lover who would spare no pains to make her happy who would cherish her tenderly and make her days a dream of romance i had planned in my mind such a charming for all ivory and white satin flowers and a soft warm light falling through the windows imagine with that delicate face of hers and white rose skin a clad in floating lace and seen in a faint pink hue as of a late sunset you are an artist and you can picture the fairy like effect i certainly am not ashamed to say that this exquisite vision my thoughts it is a suggestion of beauty and in a particularly ugly and irksome world but to ask such a dainty creature as to be my and make up the s books i could not it would be sheer insolence on my part it would be like asking an angel just out of heaven to cut off her wings and go downstairs and cook my dinner you please yourself and your own fanciful temperament by those arguments said but they are totally without principle oh why and raising her eyes she fixed them on him with an earnest look why will you not understand is good and pure why would you persuade her to be otherwise rose and took one or two turns up and down the room before replying i expect you will never comprehend me he said at last stopping before in fact i confess sometimes i do not comprehend myself of course is good and pure i know that i should not bt so the master christian in love with her if | 33 |
she were not but i do see that her acceptance of me as a lover would make anything else than good and pure because i know that she would be faithful to me faithful to you yes while you were to her said with a generous indignation in her voice you would expect her to be true while you amused yourself with other women a one sided arrangement truly the seemed unmoved every relation between the sexes is one sided he declared it is not my fault the woman gives all to one the man gives a little to many i really am not to blame for falling in with this general course of thing you look very angry with me and your eyes positively me you are very loyal to your friend d i admire you for it but after all why should you be so hard upon me i am no worse than started and her cheeks than what do you mean well has of course she is useful what he would do without her i am sure i cannot imagine still she is he paused checked by s expression please explain yourself she said in cold calm accents i am at a loss to understand you glanced at her and saw that her face had grown as pale as it was recently flushed and that her lips were tightly set and in a vague way he was sorry to have spoken but he was secretly at everything he was angry that had escaped him and still that should imply by her manner if not by her words that she considered him an exceptional villain when he himself was aware that nearly all the men of his resembled him is s model he said i thought you were aware of it she appears in nearly all his pictures breathed again oh is that all she murmured and laughed opened his eyes a little amazed at her indifference what a confiding creature was the master christian this woman of genius this time however he was discreet and kept his thoughts to himself that is all he said but artists have been known to admire their models in more ways than one yes said but is entirely different to most men the was moved to smile but did not he merely bowed with a deep and courtesy you have reason to know him best he said and no doubt he deserves your entire confidence for me i willingly confess myself a but i assure you i am not as bad as i seem your friend is safe from me s eyes lightened her mind was greatly relieved you will leave her to herself she began certainly i will leave her to herself she will not like it but i will do it she is going away to morrow i found that out from her maid why will you beautiful ladies keep maids they are always ready to tell a man everything for twenty or forty so simple so cheap s maid is my devoted and by not only on account of the but because i been careful to secure her sweetheart as my he depends upon me to set him up in business so you see how easy it is for me to be kept aware of all my fair lady s movements this is how i learned that she is going away to morrow and this is why i came here to day she has given me the slip she has avoided me and now i will avoid her we shall see the result i think it will end in a victory for me never said you will never win to your way of thinking but it js quite possible she may win you that would be strange indeed said the lightly the world is full of wonders but that would be the most wonderful thing that ever happened in it commend me to the fair and tell her it is who am about to leave paris where are you going asked ah feminine curiosity said the laughing how it leaps out like a lightning flash even the most rigid virtue vi the master christian where i am going is my own secret and not even your appealing looks will drag it out of me i but i am in no hurry to go away i shall not fly off by the midnight train or the very early one in the morning as your romantic friend the will probably do i have promised the to hear him preach on sunday i shall listen to a farewell sermon and try to benefit by it after that i take a long adieu of france be good enough to say to the with my he bowed low over s hand and with a few more light parting words took his graceful presence out of the room and went down the stairs humming a tune as he departed after he had gone sat for some minutes in silence thinking then she went to her desk and wrote a brief note to the as follows dear dismiss your maid she is in the employ of and details to him all your movements he has been here for half an hour and tells me that he takes a long adieu of france after sunday and he has promised me to leave you to yourself i am sure you are glad of this my uncle and i go to rome next week she sealed and marked the envelope private and ringing the bell for her man servant requested him to deliver it himself into the hands of the this matter dismissed from her mind she went to a full of sketches and turned them over and over till she came to one dainty small picture entitled et | 33 |
les roses it was a study of a woman s figure set among roses and was signed looked at it long and earnestly all the delicate flesh tints with the exquisite hues of red and white roses were with wonderful delicacy and precision of touch and there was a like grace and modesty about the woman s form and the drooping of her head which was effective yet subtle in suggestion was it a of angry herself tried to the master christian put the hateful but thought away from her it was the first slight shadow on the of her love dream and it was hke one of those sudden clouds crossing a bright sky which throws a chill and depression over the smiling landscape to doubt seemed like doubting her own existence she put the picture back in the and paced slowly to and fro in her considering deeply love and fame fame and love she had both and yet had said such fortune seldom fell to the lot of a woman as to possess the two things together might it not be her destiny to lose one of them if so which would she prefer to keep her whole heart her whole impulses cried out love her intellect and her ambitious inward soul said fame and something higher and greater than either heart intellect or soul whispered to her inmost self work god bids you do what is in you as completely as you can without asking for a reward of either love or fame but she argued with herself for a woman love is so necessary to the completion of life and the inward replied what kind of love or immortal art is good work is eternal no matter whether it is man or woman who has accomplished it and then a sigh broke from s lips as she thought ah but the world will never own woman s work to be great even if it be so because men give the verdict and man s praise is for himself and his own achievements always man s praise went on the interior voice and what of god s final justice have you not patience to wait for that and faith to work for it again sighed then happening to look up in the direction of the music gallery which occupied one end of her where the organ was fitted she saw a fair young face peering down at her over the carved oak railing and recognised she smiled her two or three days knowledge of him had been more than sufficient to win her affection and interest so you are up there she said is my uncle sleeping no replied he is writing many letters to rome will you come and play to me w y and went lightly up the master christian steps of the gallery but you have been out all day are you not tired no not now i was weary very weary of seeing and hearing so many false things false things echoed thoughtfully as she seated herself at the organ what were they churches principally said quietly how sad it is that people should come into those grand buildings looking for christ and never finding him but they are all built for the worship of christ said pressing her small white fingers on the organ keys and drawing out one or two deep and solemn sounds by way of why should you think he is not in them he cannot be answered they are all unlike him remember how poor he was he told his followers to despise all riches and worldly praise and now see how the very try to obtain notice and reward for declaring his simple word the churches seem quite empty of him and how empty too must be the hearts and souls of all the poor people who go to such places to be comforted did not reply her hands had unconsciously wandered into the of a rich voluntary and the notes firm grand and harmonious rolled out in the silence with a warm deep tenderness that thrilled the air as with a beat of angels wings st in thought she scarcely knew what she played nor how she was playing but she was conscious of a sudden and singular exaltation of spirit a rush of inward energy that was almost protest a force which refused to be checked and which seemed to fill her to the very finger tips with not her own going to the destroying flames might have felt as she felt then there was a grave sense of impending sorrow hanging over her mingled with a strong and resolve to overcome whatever threatened her soul s peace and she played on and on listening to the rushing waves of sound which she herself and almost losing herself in a trance of thought and vision and in this dreamy condition she imagined that even s face fair and innocent as it was grew still more beautiful a light not of the d to the master christian dwell like an in his hair and in his earnest eyes and a smile sweeter than any she had ever seen seemed to tremble on his lips as she looked at him you are thinking beautiful things he said gently and they are all in the music shall i tell you about them she nodded assent while her fingers softly pressing out the last of s music wandered of their own will into the melancholy pathos of a reverie you are thinking of the wonderful plan of the world he said of all the fair and glorious things god has made for those who love him i of the splendour of faith and hope and courage of the soul s divine origin and responsibility | 33 |
and all the joy of being able to say to the creator of the whole universe our father you are thinking because you know that not a note of the music you are playing now fails to reach the eternal echoing away from your touch it goes straight to its mark sent with the soul s expression of love and gratitude it flies to the centre of the soul s worship not a of true harmony is lost i you are thinking how grand it is to live a sweet and life full of prayer and endeavour keeping a spirit white and clean as the light itself a spirit dwelling on the verge of earth but always ready to fly you are thinking that no earthly reward no earthly love no earthly happiness though good in itself can ever give you such perfect peace and joy as is found in loving serving and obeying god and his will to be entirely worked in you listened deeply moved her heart quickly how wonderfully the boy expressed himself i with what sweetness gentleness and persuasion she would have ceased playing but that something imperative urged her to go on and s soft voice thrilled her strangely when he spoke again saying you know now because your wise men are be to prove it that you can in very truth send a message to heaven to heaven murmured that is a long way i we know we can send messages in a v oi the master christian from one part of the world to another but then there must be people to receive them and heaven is composed of millions of worlds said in my father s house are many i and from all worlds to all worlds from mansion to mansion the messages flash and there are those who receive them with such as can admit of no error and your wise men might have known this long ago if they had believed their master s word whatsoever is whispered in secret shall be proclaimed on the but you will all find out soon that it is true and that everything you say and that every prayer you utter god hears my mother is in heaven said wistfully i wish i could send her a message your very wish has reached her now said how is it possible that you in the spirit could wish to communicate with one so beloved and she not know it love would be no use then and there would be a grave flaw in god s perfect creation ceased playing and turned round to face the young speaker then you think we never lose those we love and that they see us and hear us always they must do so said otherwise there would be cruelty in creating the grace of love at all but himself is love those who love truly can never be parted death has no power over their souls if one is on earth and one in heaven what does it matter if they were in separate countries of the world they could hear news of each other from time to time and so they can when apparent death has divided them how asked with quick interest your wise men must tell you said with a grave little smile i know no more than what christ has said and he told us plainly that not even a shall fall to the ground without our father fear not he said ye are more than many so as there is nothing which is useless and nothing which is wasted it is very certain that love which is the greatest of all things cannot lose what it loves s eyes filled with tears she knew not why lore which is the greatest oi s lose the master christian what it loves how wonderfully tender was s voice as he spoke these words you have very sweet thoughts she said you would be a great comfort to anyone in sorrow that is what i have always wished to be he answered but you are not in sorrow yet that is to come she looked up quickly you think i shall have some great trouble she asked with a little in her accents yes most surely you will replied no one in the world ever tried to be good and great at the same time without suffering and bitter pain did not christ say in the world ye shall have yes and i have often wondered why said only that you might learn to love god best answered with a delicate of compassion in his voice and that you might know for certain and beyond all doubt that this life is not all there is something better greater higher glory that is worth winning because immortal in the world ye shall have yes that is true i but the rest of the saying is true be of good cheer i have overcome the world moved by an impulse she could not understand suddenly turned and extended her hands with an instinctive grace that implied reverence as well as humility the boy clasped them lightly then let them go and v more words went softly away and left her xiii the church of dame de in paris with its yellow columns and its hideous excess of paint and might be a ball room designed after the ideas of a vulgar rather than a place of the minded pupil of the equally minded hastily in some of the theatrical in the chapel of the and a personage named out the gaudy of the chapel of the virgin the whole edifice at the spectator like a and the glittering effect one s very soul but here may be seen many little select groups out | 33 |
of the hell of paris fresh from the burning as it were and smelling of the who enjoy their concerning whom one feels that their polished boots are cleverly designed to cover their animal hoofs and that skilful have arranged their garments so that their tails are not perceived but that hoofs and tails are would seem to be a certainty here sometimes will sing a celebrated tenor and brazen pouring out from his bull throat such liquid notes as might lift the mind of the listener to heaven t one were not so positive that a moral sang them here sometimes may be seen the stout who is the of open air in the kneeling with difficulty on a velvet and actually saying prayers and one must own that it is an and moving sight to behold such a woman pretending to confess her sins with the full delight of them written on her face and the intention of committing them all over again itself in every turn of her head every grin of her lips and every flash of her painted eyes for these sections out of the french dame de is a good place the master christian to play and prayer the is too classic and serene and sombre in its interior to suggest anything but a museum from which the proper is absent dame de paris too much with the blood of slain to be altogether comfortable st in its fashionable congregation numbers too many little girls who innocently go to hear the music and who have not yet begun to paint their faces to suit those whose lives are all paint and and the is just the happy medium of a church where sham being written on its walls one is scarcely surprised to see sham in the general aspect of its among the ugly columns and against the heavy ceiling divided into huge raised of paint and s voice had often and his sermons were looked forward to as a kind of witty entertainment in the middle or the afterwards of a noisy mass mass which had been performed with perhaps the tenor giving the with as dramatic an utterance as though it were a love song in an opera and the shouting through the with the deep musical fury of the tenor s jealous rival with a and a and a of trumpets at the elevation as if it were a cheap spectacle at a fair after all this and hysterical excitement it was a relief to see the mount the pulpit stairs but his black closely up to his chin his round face wearing a pious but suggestive smile his eyes twinkling with latent satire and his whole aspect expressing welcome excellent i a myself will proceed to his sermons were generally on religion delicately veiled and full of the double so dear to the hearts of and their delight in him arose chiefly from never quite knowing what he meant to imply or to enforce not that his hearers would have followed any counsel even if he had been so as to offer it they did not come to hear him preach in the full sense of the word they came to hear him say things witty observations on the particular of the hour on the political situation oi n the master christian was still more charming neat remarks in the style l or which covered and found excuses for vice while seemingly there is nothing perhaps so satisfactory to persons who pride themselves on their as a certain kind of philosophy which virtue and vice as it were on the point of a finger and prettily on the way the two can be easily into each other almost without perception if without perception without sin says the it is merely a question of balance certainly if generosity into extravagance you have a virtue turned into a vice but there is one thing these cannot do and that is to turn a vice into a virtue that cannot be done and has never been done a vice is a vice and its inherent quality is to wax fat and gross and to generally itself whereas a virtue being a part of the spiritual quality and acquired with difficulty it must be continually practised and guarded in the practice lest it lapse into vice we are always forgetting that we have been and still are in a state of out of the beast god has made man but now he expects us with all the wisdom learning and experience he has g ven us to for ourselves from man the angel the supreme height of his divine intention weak as yet on our spiritual wings we hark back to the beast period only too willingly and sometimes not all the persuasion in the world can lift us out of the mire wherein we elect to nevertheless there must be and will be a serious day of reckoning for any priest of the church or so called servant of the gospel who by the least word or covert gives us a push back into and and that there are numbers who do so no one can deny had flung many a of sarcasm at the half sinking faith of some of his hearers with the result that he had sunk it altogether in his way he had done as much harm as the who when he finds persons believing devoutly in christ but refusing to accept considers such persons and does not hesitate to call them so the in christian doctrine are as haughty and narrow as the whom calls wolves and the master christian whom he said ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men for ye neither go in yourselves neither suffer | 33 |
ye them that are entering to go in and even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men but within ye are full of and the last words it may be said will apply to more than one half of the of the gospel at the present day it was a brilliant soft sunday morning when cardinal of s request that he should be present to hear him preach took his slow and thoughtful way to the church of the accompanied by his niece and the building was crammed and had not the been previously careful to reserve seats and to mention the cardinal s name to the he would have scarcely obtained admission as it was however he passed slowly up the centre aisle without followed by and and watched by a good many inquisitive persons who wondered as they looked who the boy was that walked after his eminence with such easy self possession with such a noble and modest bearing and with such a strangely thoughtful face a few whispered and each other as the passed them dressed in her usual quiet black her head slightly bent and her eyes downcast the seated in an attitude which suggested a languid indifference to all persons and lifted his bright eyes as she passed and a sudden wave of consciousness swept over him uneasy consciousness that perhaps this small slight woman despised him this was not quite a pleasant reflection for a man and a to boot one who could boast of an ancient and honourable family back to the fighting days of de lion and whose coat of arms was distinguished by three white lilies of france on one of its the lilies of france of honour loyalty truth and chivalry what and trampled blossoms they seem to day he frowned as this fancy crossed his mind and turned his eyes away from the following of s slight form up the aisle and his glance fell instead on a face he detested because it was almost the of his own the face of the great french actor the same clean shaven classic xv q the master christian hair the same glittering eyes the same charming and kindly smile all these attributes were in s face while in s they remained refined and of the highest breeding the moved uneasily in his seat he saw himself in the famous actor himself as he would be if he continued his career of self indulgence for though gifted with a genius that could move all paris to the wildest of admiration was in private life known as a man of detestable reputation whose with women were endless but who in his extreme and had never been known to yield to the saving grace of a passion one of those faithful passions which sometimes make the greatness of both man and woman concerned and adorn the pages of dull history with the brilliancy of romance was he de no better no nobler no higher in his desires and than what was he doing with the three lilies on his he thought with a certain impatience of of her grace her tender eyes her sweet laughter and sweeter smile she had seemed to him a mere slight creation of the air and the something dainty that would have melted at a touch and dropped into his mouth as it were like a french bon bon so he had judged and now lo the little ethereal creature had suddenly displayed a soul of hard and pure and glittering as a diamond which no persuasion could break or bend she had actually kept her word she had most certainly left paris the knew that by the lamentable story of her dismissed maid who had come to him with hysterical tears declaring that madame had suddenly developed a and had gone away alone alone save for a little dusky boy whom she had once brought away from and had trained as an attendant her and companion madame and her old butler who had known her from childhood felt that the dismissal of the maid who had been such a convenient spy for him was due to interference and though he was con the master christian of feeling at the same time mean in himself and miserable to employ a servant to play the spy on her mistress and report to him her actions and movements might be worthy of a but was it quite the thing for a thinking over these things his handsome face grew flushed and anon pale again as from time to time he stole a vexed side glance at the easy so like him in features and unfortunately so equally like him in morals meanwhile the music of the mass round him in of the organ of groaning of and of boys and men s voices and as the cloudy incense rose upon the air he began to strange fancies in his mind and to see in the beams of sunlight falling through the stained glass windows a vision of the bright face of looking down upon him with a half smile a smile that seemed to say if thou me set the grace of honour on thy love these were strange thoughts for him to entertain and he was almost ashamed of them but as long as the of the mass kept rolling on and around him he could not help thinking of them so that he was relieved when a pause came the interval for the sermon and leisurely mounting the steps of the pulpit stood surveying the congregation with the composed yet air for which he was celebrated and waiting till the rustling toe noises of the congregation had settled down into comparative silence his attitude during this interval was | 33 |
marvellous creation the more we look for him the more he gives himself to us and christ declares seek and ye shall find the church says seek and ye shall not be how are we to reconcile these two we do not reconcile them we cannot it is a case of double sight and vision christ spoke plainly the church speaks christ gave straight commands we fly in the face of them and openly them truth can always be discussed and truth must be were a thousand holy fathers to say it nay but note again the further words to america there can only be one the pope in the matter of discipline may be allowed but in doctrine none let us examine into this doctrine it is the doctrine of christ plain and straightforward in such simple words that even a child can understand them but the church with a voice that there can only be one the pope nevertheless truth has a more voice than even that of the church truth cries out at this present day unless you will listen to me who am the absolute utterance of god who by the who through christ who speaks through christ and all things still your lit the master christian systems your uncertain churches your your shall away into dust and ruins for humanity is waiting for the true church of christ the one pure house of praise from which all all superstition and vanity shall have fled and only god in the christ miracle and the perfection of his creation shall remain and there is no more sure foundation for this much needed house of praise than the catholic church the word catholic being applied in its sense meaning a universal answering to the needs of all and i am willing to maintain that the roman catholic church has within it the vital of a perfection if it would utterly pomp and riches if it would set its dignity at too high an estimate for any wish to in or political affairs if it would firmly down all superstition and and use no vain repetition as the heathen do to quote christ s own words if in place of ancient and incredible lore it would open its doors to the of science the miracles and magnificence daily displayed to us in the wonderful work of god s universe then indeed it might obtain a lasting hold on mankind it might conquer and the whole earth but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness and while the church remains double sighted we are bound also to see double and so we listen with a complete and cynical to the conventional statement that one man alone shall interpret christ s teaching to us of the roman following and this man an old frail teacher whose bodily and intellectual powers are in the course of nature steadily on the decline why we ask must an aged man be always elected to decide on the teaching of the ever young and christ to whom the burden of years was unknown and whose immortal spirit for a while in clay saw ever the vision of old things being made new in all other work but this of religious faith men in the prime of life are selected to lead men of energy thought action and endeavour but for the sublime and difficult task of lifting the struggling human soul out of low things to lofty an old man weak and tottering on the verge of the grave is set before us as our lt i the master christian there is something appalling in the fact that look we may no profession holds out much chance of power or authority to any man past sixty but the head of the church may be so old that he can hardly move one foot before the other yet he is permitted to be declared the representative of the ever working ever helping christ who never knew what it was to be old enough however of this strange superstition which is only one of many in the church and which are all the result of double or sight i come to the last part of the text which runs if therefore the light in thee be darkness how great is that darkness therefore the light in thee be darkness my friends that is exactly my condition and has been my condition ever since i was twenty the light in me has been darkness the intellectual quality of my brain which has helped me to attain my present false position among you here he paused for there was a distinct movement of surprise among his audience which till now had remained to a man so still that the of a fly on the window pane sounded almost as loud as the of a bag pipe then with a faint smile on his lips he resumed i hope you all heard my words distinctly i i said the false position i have attained among you i repeat it lest there should be any mistake it iy a false position and always has been i have never for an instant believed half what i have asked you to believe and i have preached to you what i have never dreamed of yet i venture to say that i am not worse than most of my brethren the intellectual men of france whether clergy or are in a difficult situation their brains are keen and clear and speaking they are totally unable to accept the church of the tenth and twelfth centuries but in superstition it would have been quite possible to have held them fast to a sublime faith in god and an immortal future had the church caught them when slipping and | 33 |
risen to the mental demand made upon her resources but the old worn out thunder of the which lately made a feeble noise in america has rolled through france with the same assertion discussion cannot be and what has been the result simply this that all the master christian the intellectual force of the country is arrayed against and the spirit of an insolent witty and rules us all even young children can be found by the score who laugh at the very idea of a god and who fling a at the story of the of christ while vice and crime are and often excused moral restraint is being less and less enforced and the for indulgence has become so incessant that the desire of the whole country if put into one line might be up in the impotent cry of the to his god reconcile the law to my desires this is as though a should seek to build a cathedral and ask for the laws of architecture to be altered in order to suit his like capacity the law is the law and if broken brings punishment the law makes for good and if we pull back for evil us in its outward course vice corruption in body and in soul and history us with more than sufficient examples of that disease it is plainly demanded of us that we should assist god s universe in its way towards perfection if we refuse and set a drag on the majestic wheel we are ourselves crushed in its progress here is where our church in the present generation it is setting itself as a drag on the wheel meanwhile truth advances every day and with no uncertain voice the majesty of god heaven s gates are thrown open the secrets of the stars are declared the mysteries of light and sound are discovered and we are approaching possibly to the time when the very graves shall give up their dead and the secrets of all men s hearts shall be made manifest yet we go on lying deceiving each other and ourselves living a daily life of fraud and with a sort of conviction in our souls that we shall never be found out we make a virtue of and declare the beast philosophy to be in strict keeping with the order of nature we over our secret sins and face the world with a brazen front of assumed honour oh we are excellent all but somehow we never seem to think we are fools as well i we never remember that all we do and ah we say is merely the adding of figures to a sum n v c in the end must be made up to the grand p the master christian every figure tells the figure especially puts an extra thousand on the whole quantity but the light in us being darkness how great is that darkness so great that we refuse to look an inch before us we will not see we will not understand we utterly decline to accept any teaching or advice which might inflict some slight inconvenience on our own and so we go on day after day till all at once a reckoning is called and death us in the face what so soon finished all over must we go at once and no delay must we really and truly drop all our ridiculous lies and and be sent away naked into the living unknown not the dead unknown remember for nothing is actually dead the whole universe and burns with ever re created life what have we done with the past life and what shall we do with this other life oh but there is no time to ask questions now we should have asked them before the hour of departure is come and there is not a moment s breathing time our dear friends if we have any and our paid doctors and servants stand around us awe struck they watch out last shudder and not so much for sorrow sometimes as terror and then when all is over they say we are gone yes we are gone but where well we shall each of us find that out my friends when we pass away from churches and to the majesty of the actual glory shall we pray then shall we weep shall we talk of shall we say this or that form of prayer was the true one this or that creed was the only one shall we complain of our neighbours or shall we not suddenly that there never was but one way of life and progress through creation the good and pure the truthful and courageous as taught with infinite patience by the god man and that we have followed our own inclinations rather than his counsel then our own action not god s punishment us our words not god s re echo back our sins upon ourselves he paused looking everywhere around him all his hearers were listening with an almost breathless attention oh yes i know the charm oi he continued the master christian with mingled mockery and passion in his voice the singular fascination of pure i all of you know it too those of you who court the world s applause on the stage or in the of art and literature and who pretend that by your work you are and assisting humanity while in your own private lives you in such vice as the very dogs you keep might be ashamed of there is no beast so as man at his worst and some of you whom i know glory in being seen at your worst always there are many among you here to day whose sole excuse for a life of is that | 33 |
our lies we our with carefully closed doors i did so i was a priest of the roman church as i am now it would never have done for a priest to be a social sinner i therefore took every precaution to hide my fault but out of my lie springs a living condemnation from my carefully concealed comes a of truth and from my secret sin comes an open vengeance at the last words the loud report of a pistol sounded through the building there was a puff of smoke a gleam of flame and a bullet straight at the head of the preacher the congregation rose en uttering exclamations of terror but before anyone could know exactly what had happened the smoke cleared and the was seen leaning against the steps of the pulpit pale but and in front of him stood the boy with arms outstretched and a smile on his face the had split the pulpit the master christian above him an excited group assembled round them immediately and the was the first to speak i am not hurt i he said quickly see to the boy he sprang in front of me and saved my life but was equally and aside au and compliments and while eager questions were poured out and answered a couple of were seen struggling in the centre of the church with a man who seemed to have the power of a demon so fierce and frantic were his efforts to escape ah the cried hastening to give assistance the i echoed a dozen other persons pressing in the same direction heard and gave one swift glance at cardinal who though startled by the rapidity and excitement of the scene that had occurred was equal to the occasion and understood his friend s appeal at once even before he said hurriedly tell them to let him go i or bring him face to face with me the cardinal endeavoured to pass through the crowd but though some made way for him on account of his dignity others closed in and he found it impossible to move more than a few steps then moved by a sudden resolve raised himself a little and resting one hand on the shoulder of who still remained on the steps of the pulpit in front of him he called let the come here to me i have a word to say to him through the swaying tumultuous murmuring throng came a sudden stillness and drew back as the to s command pushed their way along dragging and their prisoner between them a young black black eyed peasant with a handsome face and proud bearing whose defiant manner implied that having made one fierce struggle for liberty and finding it in vain he was now resigned to the inevitable when brought face to face with the he lifted his head and flashed his dark eyes upon him with a look of withering contempt his lips parted he seemed lo when his glance the master christian fell upon then something caused him to hesitate he checked himself on the very verge of speech and remained silent the surveyed him with something of a half admiring smile then addressing the he said let him go i the men looked up astonished doubting whether they had heard aright let him go repeated the firmly i have no accusation to make against him had he killed me he would have been perfectly justified i let him go remonstrated the who had made himself one of the group immediately around the pulpit is not this a mistake on your part let me advise you not to be so merciful blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy quoted the with a strange smile while his breath came and went quickly and his face g paler as he spoke set him free if you please i decline to my own flesh and blood i will be for his future conduct i am entirely for his past he is my son xiv no one ever afterwards quite knew how the crowd in the church broke up and dispersed itself after this for a few minutes the crush of people round the pulpit was terrific all eyes were fixed on the young black peasant who had so nearly been a and on the father who publicly him and then there came a pressing towards the doors which was excessively dangerous to life and limb cardinal greatly moved by the whole scene placed himself in front of as a shield and defence from the crowd but before he had time to consider how he should best pilot her through the pushing and throng a way was made for him by who with a quiet step and bearing walked through the centre of the crowd which parted easily on either side of him as though commanded to do so by some unheard but absolute authority admiring and wondering glances were turned upon the boy whose face shone with such a g ave peace and sweetness he had saved the s life the people whispered by springing up the steps of the pulpit and throwing himself between the intended victim and the bullet of his who was he where did he come from no one knew he was merely the attendant of that tall looking cardinal the uncle of the famous so the words ran from mouth to mouth as and his niece moved slowly through the throng following then when they had passed there came a general and confusion once more and the people and each other through the church regardless of consequences eager to escape and discuss among themselves the sensation of the morning un un veritable said pausing as he found himself face to face with the stared i t the master christian did you speak to me | 33 |
he glancing the actor up and down with an air of supreme disdain laughed carelessly yes i spoke to you he replied i said that the public confession of our dear priest was a veritable an unfortunate scandal in the church said yes i went on the if it were on the stage it would be taken as a matter of course an actor s follies help to the world but a priest s would seem to suggest the crushing down of a universe custom and usage make the rule in these things said turning away i have the honour to wish you good day i one moment i said the actor smiling there is a curious personal resemblance between you and me le i have you ever noticed it we might be brothers by our looks and also i believe by our s eyes flashed angrily i think not i he said coldly a certain resemblance between totally persons is quite common for the rest we are absolutely different absolutely i again laughed as you will and he raised his hat with a light half mocking air au scarcely acknowledged the salutation he was too much annoyed he considered it a piece of insolence on s part to have addressed him at all without previous introduction it was true that the famous actor was permitted a license not granted to the ordinary individual as indeed most actors are even princes who hedge themselves round with to certain of their subjects who are in all ways great and worthy of notice to the who today takes the place of the court and allow him to enter royal presence often bringing his wanton with him and there was not the slightest reason for the to be at all particular in his choice of yet somehow or the master christian the fine and sensitive instincts of a gentleman were in him and though in the very depths of his own conscience he knew himself to be as much of a social actor as was a professional one though he was aware that his passions were as and therefore as vulgar for is vulgarity there was a latent pride in him which forbade him to set himself altogether on same level and now as he walked away his fine aristocratic head lifted a little higher in air than usual he was excessively irritated with everything and everybody but with himself in particular s sermon had stung him in several ways and the startling had vexed him still more what folly he thought as he entered his appointed flat and threw himself into a chair with a kind of angry weariness how utterly stupid of to the fact that he is no better than other men in the full face of his congregation i he must be mad i a priest of the roman church publicly acknowledging a natural son i has ever such a thing been heard of i and the result is merely to create scandal and invite his own disgrace a bon he lit a and puffed at it impatiently his particular code of morality had been completely upset things seemed to have taken a turn for general offence and the simplest thoughts became like in his brain him in various sore and sensitive places then added to his general sense of was the unpleasant idea that he was really in love where he had never meant to be in love in love is a wide term nowadays and covers a multitude of poor and petty passing emotions and it is often necessary to add the word really to it in order to the fact that the passion has perhaps and even then it is only rome august a grave scandal has just burst upon th here the di having attacked the attending the recent of latin america that is america as men of loose morality the the organ replied declaring that the life of the present at the was above suspicion the di that the majority of the brought with them to rome their and in some their children the offers to disclose the names of these and demands that the pope shall satisfy the catholic world by the master christian a perhaps taken a somewhat lasting form why could not have allowed things to run their natural course this natural course being according to to drop into his arms when asked and leave those arms again with equal alacrity also when asked it would have been quite pleasant and satisfactory to the and for well for she would soon have got over it now there was all this fuss and about virtue virtue in a woman and in paris at this time of day could anything be more preposterous and ridiculous one would imagine i had stumbled into a for young ladies he grumbled to himself what with actually gone and that pretty pattern of preaching at me with her big violet eyes and now who used to be bon et ban himself a social sinner really one would imagine that some invisible was trying to whip me into order on called a clear voice outside at this juncture and without waiting for permission the entered a very pretty woman in an admirably fitting riding habit which she held up with one extending the other as she came to the who gracefully bent over it and kissed it de he murmured not at all spare me your was the gay reply accompanied by a dazzling smile you are not in the least charmed nothing nobody charms you i least of all did you not see me in church no where were your eyes on the courageous who so nearly gave us the melancholy task of arranging a for him this afternoon she laughed and her eyes then she | 33 |
went on do you know he is quite a delightful boy the peasant son and i think of taking him to my and making something of him i waited to see the whole play out and bring you the news papa has gone home with his good looking offspring then cardinal do you know the cardinal by reputation merely replied the setting a chair for his fair visitor and as the of the master christian oh reputation is nothing laughed the lady known as the d an independent beauty of great wealth and brilliant your butler can give you a reputation or take it away from you i but the cardinal s reputation is truly singular it is goodness merely he is so good that he has become actually famous for it now i once thought that to become famous for goodness must surely imply that the person so celebrated had a very nature the worst of natures indeed that of pretending to be what he was not but i was mistaken cardinal is good absolutely sincere and noble therefore a living marvel in this age you are pleased to be severe said the is sincerity so difficult to find the most difficult of virtues answered the lightly tapping out a little tune with the handle of her riding whip on the arm of her chair that is why i like horses and dogs so much they are always honest and for that reason i am now inclined to like whom i never liked before he has turned honest to day indeed he has been as straightforward as if he were not a man at all i and i admire him for it he and his son will be my guests at the d ag what a very strange woman you are said with a certain languid admiration beginning to glimmer in his eyes you always do things that nobody else would dare and yet no lovers i she turned herself swiftly round and surveyed him with a bright scorn that swept him as with a lightning flash from head to heel lovers who would be bored by them such delightful company so unselfish in their demands so tender and careful of a woman s feelings ami you forget i was the wife of the late prince d that explains a great many of your moods certainly said the smiling does it not le beau louis romantic louis poet louis louis louis who talked pretty j by the hour louis who looked so beautiful y moonlight who seemed fastidious and refined to a the master christian degree tiiat was almost ethereal louis who swore with passion flashing in his eyes that i was the centre of the universe to him and that no other woman had ever occupied would ever occupy or should ever occupy his thoughts yes he was an ideal lover and husband indeed i said the smiling coldly i gave him all my life and love till one day when i found i was sharing his caresses with my who called him her louis then i thought it was time to put an end to romance and she gave a little shrug and sigh it is sad to think he died of over eating the laughed you are he said you should write these things not speak them really and do i not write them yes you know i do and that you envy me my skill the is indebted to me for many admirable essays at the same time i do not give you permission to call me forgive me and the folded his hands with an air of mock perhaps i will presently and she laughed but meanwhile i want you to do something for me tou d service madame and bowed profoundly how theatrical you look you are like and one must draw the line at this is a day of truth according to the how dare you say you are at my service when you do not mean it i protest oh protest as much as you like on the way to rome the started to rome yes to rome i am going and i want to look after me will you come all paris will say we have together she laughed merrily the stood perplexed and silent well what is it went on the gaily is there some faint sense of stealing over you not possible dear me your very muscles are m rigid j you will not go the master christian madame if you will permit me to be frank with you i would rather not a la then i have you i and the rose a dazzling smile her features you have thrown open your heart you have to reform you love you positively love her began the i assure you assure me nothing and she looked him straight in the eyes i know all about it you will not journey with me because you think the will hear of it and put a wrong construction on your courtesy you wish to try for once to give her no cause for doubting you to be et you wish to make her think you something better than a sort of whose inclinations are not awakened by one woman but by women i and so you will not do anything which though harmless in itself may seem for this you refuse the friendly invitation of one of the best known society leaders in europe it is a step in the right direction i adieu you are not going so soon he said hurriedly wait till i explain there is nothing to explain i and the pretty gave him her hand with a beneficent air i am very pleased with you you are what the english call good boy | 33 |
now i am going to see the and place the d ag at his disposal while he is waiting to be for of course he will be what does it matter who cares said the it does not matter and nobody cares not in actual paris but very very nice people in the who are morally much worse than the will perhaps refuse to receive him that is why my doors are open to him and also to his son original as usual perfectly i am going to write a column for the on the amazing little scene of this morning au my poor horse has been waiting too long already i must finish my ride n v then go to the master christian for all the of to day s are at her i believe who is that boy with the cardinal asked the mar suddenly you have noticed him i also a wonderful a little no doubt and so you will not go to rome with me i think not and smiled il i will tell the is not in paris no and the laughed she is in rome she must have arrived there this morning au another dazzling smile and she was gone stood staring after her in amazement was in rome then and he had just refused to accompany the thither a sudden access of irritation came over him and he paced the room angrily should he also go to rome never it would seem too close a pursuit of a woman who had by her actions distinctly shown that she wished to avoid him now he would prove to her that he also had a will of his own he would leave paris he would yes he would go to africa everybody went to africa it was becoming a fashionable pasture land for disappointed lives he would lose himself in the desert and then then would be sorry when she did not know where he was or what he was doing but also he in his turn would not know here was or what she was doing i this was it was certain that she would not remain in rome a day longer than she chose to well then where would she go in africa he would find some in tracing her movements on second thoughts he resolved that he would lose himself in another fashion and would go to rome to do it she shall not know i am there he said to himself with a kind of in his own decision i shall amuse myself shall see her but she shall not see me satisfied with this as yet e plan of entertainment he began at once making his arrangements for departure meanwhile the riding gracefully the on her beautiful the master christian ing herself with her thoughts and weighing the and of the different lives of her friends without giving the slightest consideration to her own here was a strange nature as a girl she had been intensely loving generous and warm hearted and she had adored her husband with exceptional faith and devotion but the handsome prince s were though he had been fairly successful in concealing them from his wife till the unlucky day when she had found him making desperate love to a common servant and after that her confidence naturally was at an end one discovery led to another and the husband around whom she had woven her life s romance sank degraded in her sight never to rise again she was of far too dignified and proud a nature to allow her sense of outrage and wrong to be made public and though she never again lived with d as his wife she carried herself through all her duties as mistress of the household and hostess of his guests with a brave bright gaiety which deceived even the observer and the of paris used to declare that she did not know the extent of her husband s follies but she did know and while filled with utter disgust and for his conduct she nevertheless gave him no cause of complaint against herself and when he died of a fever brought on through over indulgence in vice she to all the of society wore her solemn widow s black for more than the accustomed period and then cast it oflf not to dash into her fashionable circle again with a of colour but rather to glide into it gracefully a vision of refinement arrayed in such soft hues as may be seen in some rare picture and she took complete possession of it by her own charm no one could really tell whether she grieved for d s death or not no one but herself knew how she had loved him no one guessed what agonies of pain and shame she had endured for his sake nor how she had wept herself half blind with despair when he died all this she shut up in her own heart but the working of the secret bitterness within her had made a great change in her disposition her nature once as loving and confiding as that of a little child had been so wronged in its tenderest that now she could not love at all the master christian ad why is it she would ask herself that i am totally unable to care for any living creature that it is different to me whether i see any person once or often or never why are all men like drifting i soul s i the answer to her would be that having loved d greatly once and been deceived it was impossible to love again some women the best and therefore the are born with this difficult temperament now as she rode quietly along sometimes allowing her | 33 |
get such strange fancies into your head there is nothing supernatural left to us nowadays except the vague idea of a god and even that we are rather tired o the master christian trembled and grew paler than usual do not speak in that way she urged the talked in just such a light fashion until the other day here yet this morning i think nay i am sure he believes in something better than himself at last the was silent for a minute well what is to happen next she of course all brave of every time have been and many of our greatest and most valuable scientific works are on the index e it is my ambition to get into that index i shall never rest till i win the honour of being beside s origin of species smiled but her thoughts were elsewhere i hope the will go away at once she said but you have no idea how happy and at ease he is he seems to be ready for anything what does cardinal think asked the my uncle never thinks in any way except the way of christ replied he says thy sins be forgiven thee arise and walk to every soul stricken with the of pain and repentance he helps the fallen he does not strike them down more heavily ah so and is he fit to be a cardinal the d gave her a quick look but had no time to reply as at that moment a servant entered and announced nervously she said in a low tone i thought he had left paris before she had time to say any more the visitor himself entered a tall spare priest with a dark narrow countenance of the true type a face in which the small eyes with a peculiarly hard brilliancy as though they were luminous pebbles he walked into the room with a kind of dignity common to many and made a slight sign of the cross in air as the two ladies saluted him pardon me for this intrusion he said in a harsh voice but i hear that the is in this house and that cardinal the master christian has received him here since and he the word since the shameful scene of this morning my business in paris is ended for the moment and i am returning to italy to night but i wish to know if the has anything to say through me to his the pope in of his conduct before i perform the painful duty of this distressing affair at the will you see him for yourself said quietly offering to lead the way out of the you will no doubt obtain a more direct and explicit answer from the personally for a moment hesitated d ag saw his and her smile had a touch of malice in it as she said it is a little difficult to know how to address the to day is it not for of course he is no longer an no longer a priest of holy church when anybody takes to telling the truth in public the results are almost sure to be turned upon her with swift madame you are no true daughter of the church he said and my calling me to enter into any discussion with you the gave him a charming upward glance of her bright eyes and but he paid no heed to her and moving away went at once with towards the cardinal s apartments in the he hearing voices is there anyone with his eminence besides he asked the s son replied timidly frowned i will go in alone he said you need not announce the knows me well and he added with a slight sneer he is likely to know me better i without further words he signed to to retire and passing through the he opened the door of the cardinal s room and entered abruptly xv the cardinal was seated he rose as appeared i beg your eminence to spare yourself said with a deep salutation and to pardon me for thus coming into the presence of one so highly esteemed by the holy father as cardinal the cardinal gave a gesture of courteous and lifting his till then partially lowered eyelids flashed an angry regard upon the who resting his back against the book case behind him met his glance with the most perfect composure close to him stood his son and would be murderer his dark handsome face rendered even by the wistful and softened expression of his eyes which ever and anon rested upon his father with a look of mingled wonder and respect there was a brief silence of a few seconds at most and then spoke again in a voice which thrilled with pent up indignation but which he endeavoured to render calm and clear as he addressed the cardinal your eminence is without doubt aware of the cause of my visit to you if as i understand your eminence was present at dame de this morning and witnessed the conduct of the son o the church here present pardon this is my affair interposed stepping forward his eminence cardinal is not at all concerned in the matter of the difficult dispute which has arisen between me and my own conscience you call me will you explain what you mean by under these present conditions of argument it shows the extent and of your from all good that you should presume to ask such a question answered growing white under the master christian the natural darkness of his skin with an of rage he could scarcely suppress your sermon this morning was an open attack on the church and the amazing scene at its conclusion is a scandal to christianity the attack on the church i admit said the quietly | 33 |
action this morning was unusual and no doubt yet it seemed to me the only way to myself under those particular circumstances i did a wrong i seek to make amends i believe this is what god would have me do i believe that the forces judge our sins against each other to be of a far worse nature than sins against church or creed i also believe that if we try to our and set crooked rs straight death will be an easier mi o the master christian and heaven will come a little nearer to our souls as for my attack on the church ah truly what of your attack on the church said his small eyes glistening and his breath going and coming quickly i would say every word of it again with absolute conviction declared for i have said nothing but the truth there is a movement in the world that all the powers of rome are unable to cope with the movement of an advancing force called truth the voice of god the voice of christ truth cannot be choked murdered and killed nowadays as in the early rather than that the voice of truth should be silenced or murdered now at this period of time god will shake down rome not so exclaimed hotly every nation in the world shall perish before rome shall lose her sacred power she is the of the comer and upon that stone shall fall it shall grind him to powder you think so and shrugged his shoulders ever so slightly well i for me i believe that material as well as spiritual forces combine to fight against long concealed sin and practised old it would not surprise me if the which are for ever at work beneath the blood stained soil of italy were to meet under the eternal city and in one fell burst of flame and thunder prove its temporary and worth the other day an earthquake shook the walls of rome and sent a warning shock through st peter s st peter s with its vast treasures its gilded its locked up wealth its magnificence a strange contrast to italy itself italy with its people ground down under the heel of a frightful starving and in the iron bonds of poverty the pope is a prisoner and can do nothing the pope is a prisoner by his own choice he elected to walk abroad among the people and scatter peter s pence among the sick and he would then perhaps be beginning to do the duties our lord on all his had stood immovable during this speech his dark face rigid his eyes to every the master christian word but now he raised his hand with an gesture enough he said i will hear no you know the consequences of this at the i do you are prepared to accept them as prepared as an of the truth who were burned for the love of christ by the replied deliberately the world is wide there is room for me in it outside the church one would imagine you were bitten by the new christian said with a cold smile and that you were a reader and of the at this name s son stirred and lifting his dark handsome head turned his flashing eyes full on the speaker did you address me or he in a voice rich with the musical of southern france i am had he fired another pistol shot in the quiet room as he had fired it in the church it could hardly have created a more profound sensation you you stammered retreating from him as from some you you you you my son and the almost lost breath in the extremity of his amazement while cardinal half rose from his chair doubting whether he had heard aright the writer of fierce political and powerful essays that were the life and soul meat and drink of all the members of the christian party is my de pursued the young man i never had any hope of being acknowledged as son of my father i had truly no name and resolved to create one that is the sole explanation my history has made me not myself there was a dead pause at last spoke i have no place here he said biting his lips hard to keep them from trembling with rage this house which i thought was the abode of a true t oi t the master christian is apparently for the moment a refuge for and i find these kept in countenance by cardinal whose reputation for justice and should surely move him to them were he not held in check by some malignant spirit of evil which seems to possess this atmosphere interposed the cardinal with dignity it is no part of justice or to anything or anybody till the full rights of the case have been heard i was as unaware as yourself that this young man was the daring writer who has sent his assumed name of like a flame through europe i have read his books and cannot justly them because they are expressed in the language of one who is and passionately seeking for truth equally i cannot the because he has confessed his sin declared himself as he is to the public saved his son from being a and has to some extent we trust made his peace with god if you can find any point on which as a servant of christ i can these two human beings who share with me the strange and awful privileges of life and death and the promise of an immortal hereafter i give you leave to do so the works of do not christ they call they they appeal for christ through all and in all and with | 33 |
all this and appeal their writer is willing to become a murderer said young sprang forward in the name of the master you profess to serve i would advise you to set a watch upon your tongue he said granted that i was willing to murder the man who had made my mother s life a misery i was also willing to answer to god for it i saw my mother die here he gave a quick glance towards the who instinctively shrank at his words i shall pain you my father by what i say but the pain is perhaps good for us both i repeat i saw my mother die she passed away after a long life of patient loneliness and sorrow for she was faithful to the last ever faithful i have seen her weep in the silence of the night have heard her ever since i was able to un the sound of i v do the master christian you not think god has seen them i she worked and toiled and starved herself to me she had no friends for she had fallen they said and sometimes she could get no employment and often we starved together and when i thought of the man who had done this thing even as a young boy i said to myself i will kill him she did not mean poor mother to curse her lover to me but unconsciously she did her sorrow was so great her loneliness so bitter gave a gesture of impatience and contempt noted it and his dark eyes flashed but he went on steadily and then i saw her die she stretched her poor thin hard working hands out to god and over and over again she muttered and moaned in her fever the refrain of an old peasant song we have in oh la d if you had heard her if you had seen her if you had or have a heart to feel nerves to a brain to rack blood to be stung to frenzy you would seeing your mother perish thus have thought that to kill the man who had made such a wreck of a sweet pure life would be a just aye even a virtuous deed i thought so but my intended vengeance was whether by the act of god who can say but the con of the man whom i am now proud to call m father you have great cause for pride said i think i have said the young man in the close extremity of death at my hands he won my respect he shall keep it it will be my glory now to show him what a son s love and pardon may be if it be true as i understand that he is attacked by a disease which needs must be fatal his last hours will not be desolate i it may be that i shall give him more comfort than churches more confidence than it may be that the clasp of my hand in his may be a better preparation for his meeting with god and my mother than the touch of the holy in extreme like all your accursed you the interrupted indignantly and in the very presence of one of her you scorn the church i the master christian gave a quick gesture of emphatic denial i do not scorn the church but i think that honesty and fair dealing with one another is better than any church christ had no church he built no temples he no wealth he preached simply to those who would hear him under the sky in the open air he the fall of temples in this place he said is one greater than the temple he t sought to destroy long built up my house is called the house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves thieves not only of gold but of honour thieves of the very gospel which has been with and twisted to suit the times the conditions and opinions of varying phases of who that has read and thought and travelled and studied the hidden away in the old of and believes that the of the world ever condescended to on the word and say on this rock or stone i will build my church when he already knew that he had to deal with a coward who would soon deny him enough i will hear no further cried turning livid with fury cardinal i appeal to you but went on beware of that symbol of your church i it is a very strange one it seems about to be expanded into a reality of dreadful earnest i know not the man said peter does not the glittering of the world s wealth piled into the useless wealth lying idle in the midst of hideous and starvation proclaim with no uncertain voice know not the man the man of sorrows the man of tender and pitying heart the man who could not send the multitude away without bread and a miracle to give it to them the man who wept for a friend s death who took little children in his arms and blessed them who the unhappy outcast and said sin no more who was so so pure so strong so g eat that even while denying his divinity are compelled to own that his life and his actions were more divine than those of any other creature in human shape that xii v the master christian has ever walked the earth there is no true representative of christ in this world not for possibly said for no one said passionately for no poor sinking seeking soul is there | 33 |
any such visible but there is a grand tendency in mankind to his spirit and his teaching to turn from forms and shadows of faith to the faith itself from tions of a possible heaven to the real heaven which is being disclosed to us in glimpses through the jewel gates of science there were twelve gates in the heaven of st john and each gate was composed of one pearl truly do the say that never did any sea provide such pearls as these no for they were but prophetic of the then ah and what of the senses and forces forces which we are just beginning to discover and to use forces which enable me to read your mind at this present moment and to see how willingly you would send me to the burning christian as you call yourself for my thoughts and opinions as your long ago did with all men who dared to reason for themselves but that time has passed the spirit of christ in the world has conquered the church there the words rushed from his lips with a eloquence that was absolutely startling his eyes were with feeling his face so animated and inspired that it seemed as though a flame behind it every feature astonished and overcome laid a trembling hand on the arm of the passionate speaker with a gesture more of appeal than restraint and the young man caught that hand within his own and held it fast for a moment fixed his eyes upon father and son with an expression of intense hatred that darkened his face with a deep shadow as of a black mask and then without a word deliberately turned his back upon both your eminence has heard all this he said coldly addressing the cardinal who sat rigidly in his chair silent and very pale i have replied in a low strained tone and i presume eminence i i the master christian why talk of permission interrupted the raising his eyes with a sorrowful look who is to permit or deny freedom of speech in these days have i have you the right to declare that a man shall not express his thoughts in what way are we to act deny a hearing we cannot we dare not not if we obey our lord who says whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so to them if we ask for ourselves to be heard we must also hear we may hear but in such a case as the present one must we not also condemn demanded watching the venerable narrowly we can only condemn in the case of a sin replied gently and even then our condemnation must be passed with fear and trembling and with full knowledge of all the facts to the error judge not that ye be not judged we are told plainly that our brother may sin against us not only seven times but seventy times seven and still we are bound to forgive to sustain to help and not to down the already fallen these are your eminence s opinions said most assuredly are they not yours smiled coldly no i confess they are not i am a faithful servant of the church and the church is a system of moral government in which if the slightest be permitted the whole fabric is in danger a house of cards then which a breath may blow down interposed otherwise surely an foundation for the everlasting of christ i did not speak to you sir said turning upon him angrily i know you did not i spoke to you answered the young man coolly i have as much right to speak to you as you have to speak to me or to be silent if you choose you say the church is a system of moral government well look back on the past and see what it has done in the way of governing in the very earliest days of christianity when men were simple and sincere when their faith in the power of the divine things was strong and pure the church was indeed a and a powerful the master christian restraint on man s and inherent love of strife but when the lust of gain began to creep like a fever into the blood of those with whom worldly riches should be as nothing compared to the riches of the mind the heart and the spirit then the of set in then came cruelty injustice and and such of personal conduct as even the soul of an admitted sinner moral government where is it to day look at france italy spain count up the lies told by the priests in these countries to feed the follies of the ignorant did christ ever tell lies no then why if you are his do you tell them i repeat i did not speak to you said his eyes sparkling with fury to me you are a accursed and thrust out of salvation and beyond my province to deal with oh that a man should be thrust out of salvation in these christian days exclaimed with a flashing look of scorn and that he should find a servant of christ to tell him so accursed and then i am a kind of in the social community and you as a of your master should heal me of my infirmity and me of my as is whether of mind or body christ never thrust it out of salvation the must wish to be said fiercely if he does not himself seek to be healed of his evil no miracle can help him oh but i do seek and young threw back his handsome head with a splendid gesture of appeal with all my soul if | 33 |
i am i wish to be will you me can you i wish to stand up whole and pure face to face with the divine in this world and praise him for his goodness to me but surely if he is to be found anywhere it is in the spirit of truth not in any sort of a lie now according to his own words the holy ghost is the spirit of truth when the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth and what then it is somewhat dangerous to oppose the spirit of truth whether that force speak through the innocent lips of a or the ones of a ot i the master christian a word against the son of man it shall be forgiven him but against the holy ghost or the spirit of truth known sometimes as inspiration it shall not be forgiven him in this world neither in the world to come that is a terrible curse which an ocean of holy water could scarcely wash away your is wide of the mark said impatiently yet forced in spite of himself to defend his position the church is not opposed to truth but to there is no such thing as a real in the world declared passionately no reasoning human being alive that has not felt the impress of the divine image in himself and in all the universe around him he may through and the of have descended into indifference and but he knows well that that impress cannot be stamped out that he will have to account for his part however small it be in the magnificent of life and work for h has not been sent into it on chance inasmuch as if there is chance in one thing there must be chance in another and the system is too designed to be a arrangement with all our cleverness our logic our skill we can do nothing so exact i as part of the system you and i have our trifling business to and to it properly and with satisfaction to our supreme employer it seems to me that if we are honest with the world and with each other we shall be on the right road for my part i am perfectly honest with you said smiling darkly i told you and i tell you again that to me you are a accursed and you will as the no doubt feel a peculiar pleasure when your father is also declared accursed and i have said and i say again that the church is a system of moral government and that no can be permitted it is a system founded on the gospel of our lord but to obey the of our lord to the letter we should have to find another world to live in pardon me i ask for information interposed the master christian you of course maintain that christ was god in man most absolutely and yet you say that to obey his commands to the letter we should have to find another world to live in strange since he made the world and knows all our of progress but have you never fancied it possible that we may be forced to obey his commands to the letter or perish for refusing to do so made as though he would have sprung forward his face was drawn and rigid his lips tightly compressed but he had no answer to this logic he therefore took refuge in turning away as before and was about to address himself to but stopped short as he perceived who had entered while the conversation was going on and who now stood quietly by the cardinal s chair in an attitude of composed attention glanced at him with a vexed sense of irritation and reluctant wonder then his dry lips he began i am bound to regret deeply that your eminence has allowed this painful discussion to take place in your presence without reproof but i presume you are aware of the responsibility incurred the cardinal slowly inclined his head in grave assent in relating the scene of to day to his i shall be compelled to mention the attitude you have maintained throughout the conversation you are at perfect liberty to do so my son said with gentleness hesitated his eyes again rested on pardon me he said suddenly and this boy is a said the cardinal he stays with me till i can place him well in the world he has no friends he took some part in the affair of this morning i believe with a doubtful air he saved my life said advancing it was not particularly worth saving but he did it and i owe him much for in saving me he also saved from something worse than death you must be very grateful o the master christian the affection of a son you have denied for twenty five years must be exceedingly gratifying to you he paused then said does this boy belong to the church no said answering for himself i have no church no church exclaimed his eminence must you boy you must be received yes said raising his eyes and fixing them full on i must be received i need education to understand the church and so for me to be received might be difficult xvi as he thus spoke slowly and with an exquisite softness something in his voice manner or words aroused a sudden and violent in s mind he became curiously annoyed without any possible cause and out of his annoyance answered roughly ignorance is always to deal with he said but if it is not accompanied by self will or obstinacy and boys of your age are apt to be self willed and obstinate then much can be done the church has infinite patience even | 33 |
with has it asked simply and his clear eyes turning slowly towards and his son rested there a moment and then came back to fix the same steady look upon s face not another word did he say but flushed darkly and anon grew very pale his emotions however by an effort he addressed himself with cold formality once more to the you have no explanation then to offer to his beyond what you have already said none replied steadily the reasons for my conduct i think are sufficiently vital and earnest to be easily understood and your eminence has nothing more to say on this matter pursued turning to the cardinal nothing my son but i would urge that the holy father should extend his pardon to the the more so as one of them is on the verge of that land where we go hence and are no more seen s eyelids quivered and his lips drew together in a hard and cruel line i will assuredly represent your wishes to his he replied but i doubt whether they will meet with so much approval as surprise and regret i honour to wish your eminence farewell i the master christian farewell my son said the cardinal mildly ben bent down as custom forced him to do the gently uttered blessing and the extended thin white hand that signed the cross above him then with a under at whose quiet and observation of him greatly vexed and disturbed his composure he left the room there was a short silence then somewhat hesitatingly approached i much fear my dear friend that all this means for you at the he said and i sincerely grieve to be the means of bringing you into any trouble nay there should be no trouble said quietly nothing has happened which should really cause me any perplexity on the contrary events have arranged themselves so that there shall be no obstacle in the way of speaking my mind i have far from my to study and to discover for myself the various phases of opinion on religious matters in these days and i am steadily learning much as i go i regret nothing and would have nothing altered for i am perfectly confident that in all the things i meet or may have to consider my master is my guide all is well wherever we hear his voice all things work for the best when we are able to perceive his command clearly and have strength and resolution enough to our sins and follow him as he spoke a tranquil smile brightened his venerable features and seeing the fine small hand of resting on his chair he laid his own wrinkled palm over it and clasped it tenderly moved by a quick impulse suddenly advanced towards him he said with unaffected deference you are much more than a cardinal you are a good and honest man and that you serve christ purely is plainly in your look and bearing do me one favour i extend your pardon to me for my almost committed crime of to day and give me your blessing i will try to be worthy of it the cardinal was silent for a few minutes looking at bim earnestly the master christian my blessing is of small value he said and yet i do not think you would ask it for mere mockery of an old man s faith i should like here he then slowly went on again i should like to say a few words to you if i might to ask you one or two questions concerning yourself ask anything you please replied i will answer you frankly and fully i have never had any mysteries in my life save one that of my birth which up till to day was a and a but now i feel i may be proud of my father a man who sacrifices his entire social reputation and position to make amends for a wrong done to the innocent is worthy of honour i grant it said the cardinal but you yourself why have you made a name which is like a to start a of discord in europe why do you use your gifts of language and expression to awaken a national danger which even the strongest government may find itself unable to stand against i do not blame you till i hear till i know but your writings your appeals for truth in all things are like loud which may awaken more evil than good the evil is not of my making it exists replied my name my writings are only as a spark from the huge fire of religious discontent in the world if it were not my name it would be another s if did not write or speak else would write and speak perhaps better perhaps not so well at any rate i am sincere in my convictions and write from the fulness of the heart i do not care for money i make none at all by literature but i earn enough by my labour in the fields to keep me in food and lodging i have no desire for fame except in so far as my name may serve as an encouragement and help to others if you care to hear my story i should appreciate your confidence greatly said the cardinal earnestly the have made you a leading spirit of the time it would interest me to know your thoughts and theories but if you would prefer not to speak i generally prefer not to speak replied but to day is one of open confession and ci the master christian that it is sometimes advisable for men of the church to understand and enter into the minds of those who | 33 |
are outside the church who will have no church not from or but simply because they do not find god or christ in that institution as it at present exists and nowadays we are seeking for god and passionately we have found him too in places where the church assured us he was not a d could not be is there any portion of life where god is not asked gently s dark eyes softened as he met the boy s glance no dear child truly there is not but the priests do nothing to maintain or to prove that he replied and the more the world lifts itself higher and higher into the light the more we shall perceive god and the less we will permit anything to between ourselves and him but you are too young to understand w no not at all too young to i answered not at all too young to understand that god is love and pardon and patience and that men are and there they straightway depart from god and know him not at all truly that is how i understand christianity said but for so simple and plain a perception of duty one is called and and one s opinions are as dangerous to the community truth is dangerous i know but why would that not take a century to explain said the silvery voice of the d who entered with at that moment and made her deep before the cardinal glancing as she did so at who still stood resting against the s chair pardon our abrupt appearance but and i are moved by the spirit of curiosity and if we are swept out of the church like before the wind for our impertinence we care not has just left the house up in his wrath like a bird of prey in a thunder cloud muttering against the writer now what the master christian in the world has to do with or with us and she gave her hand with charming friendliness i came here really to see you and place the d at your disposal while i am away passing the winter in italy pray make yourself at home there and your son also madame said the profoundly touched by the sincerity of her manner and by the evident cordiality of her intention i thank you from my heart for your friendship at this moment when friendship is most needed but i feel i ought not to cast the shadow of my presence on your house under such circumstances and as for my son it would certainly be unwise for you to extend your gracious hospitality to him he is my son yes truly and i acknowledge him as such but he is also another person of his own making gave a slight cry and a wave of colour flushed her face the stood amazed she echoed in a low tone and s son grand is it possible then advancing she extended both her hands to ion accept my homage you have a supreme genius and with it you command more than of the thoughts of france took her hands lightly pressed and released them madame you are too generous but even while he exchanged these with her his eyes were fixed on who moving close to her uncle s chair had folded her hands upon its edge and now stood beside it a graceful like figure of repose but her breath came and went quickly and her face was very pale no wonder was so exceedingly angry resumed the d with a smile i the position now it is a truly remarkable one this with a profound reverence to the cardinal you have found it difficult to be in the discussion the discussion was not mine said the cardinal but the cause of the trouble is a n v many and i am one of those to t the master christian all before i presume to judge one i have asked the son of my old friend to tell me what led him to make his assumed name one of such terror and confusion in the world he is but six and twenty and yet and yet people talk much of me you would say said a touch of scorn lighting up his fine eyes true and it is easy to be talked of that is nothing i do not wish for that except in so far as it helps me to attain my ambition and that ambition is the to lead answered with a passionate gesture to gather the thoughts of men into one burning and turn that fire on the world they were all silent for a minute then the d spoke again but pardon me then you were about to destroy all your own chances of the future in your wild impulse of this morning oh madame it was no wild impulse when a man takes an oath by the side of a dead woman and that woman his mother he generally means to keep and i most resolutely meant to kill my father and make of myself a but i considered my mother had been murdered too and morally and i judged my vengeance just if it had not been for the boy there and he glanced at i should certainly have fulfilled my intention and then there would have been no and no said the lightly endeavouring to change the sombre tone of the conversation and the christian party would have been in and ashes the christian party echoed the cardinal what do they mean what do they want christianity that is all replied all but so much you asked me for my history will you hear it now there was an immediate murmur of assent and the g around cardinal were | 33 |
soon seated all save who remained standing sat on a cushion at her uncle s feet and her deep violet eyes were full of an eager almost f x c the master christian scarcely conceal and the and painfully concerned as he was in the narrative about to be told could not help looking at her and wondering at the extraordinary light and beauty of her face thus by an of thought was she a secret of his son s theories he wondered himself in his chair he sat with bent head as he heard the story of the bold and fearless and philosophic life that had sprung into the world all out of his summer s romance with a little innocent girl whom he had found praying to her guardian angel it is not always ourselves began in his slow emphatic yet musical voice who are responsible for the good or the evil we may do in our lives much of our character is formed by the earliest impressions of childhood and my earliest impressions were those of sorrow i started life with the pulse of my mother s broken heart beating in me whence my thoughts were sombre and of an altogether unnatural character to a child of tender years we lived my mother and i in a small cottage on the edge of a meadow outside the quaint old city of a meadow full at all seasons of the loveliest wild flowers but sweetest in the when the lifting their thousand cups of sweet perfume like incense to the sky i used to sit among their cool green stems thinking many thoughts chief among which was a wonder why god had made my little mother so unhappy i heard afterwards that god was not to blame only man breaking god s laws of she was a good brave woman for despite her loneliness and tears she worked hard worked to send me to school and to teach me all she herself knew which was little enough poor soul but she studied in order to instruct me and often when i slept the unconscious sleep of healthy childhood she was up through half the night out books difficult enough for an educated woman to master but for a peasant she was nothing more presenting almost obstacles i was very quick to learn and her loving patience was not wasted upon me but when i was about eleven years old i resolved that i could no longer burden her with the expenses of my life so without her consent i hired myself out to i the master christian to clear weeds from his fields and so began to earn my bread which is the best and noblest form of knowledge existing in the world for all of us with the earning of my body s keep came spiritual independence and young as i was i began to read and consider for myself till when i was about fifteen chance brought me across the path of a man whose example inspired me and decided my fate named gave a slight exclamation of surprise and turned his dark eyes upon her yes i am aware that he has been in paris lately no doubt you know him certainly he is bom to be a leader of men and if a noble life and character together with eloquence determination and of purpose can help him to fulfil his mission he will assuredly succeed he is from america though born of british parents and the first thing i gathered from him was an overwhelming desire to study and to master the english language not because it was english but because it was the universal language spoken by america i felt from what he said then and i feel still from what i have learnt and know now that america has all the future in the hollow of her hand my intention had i succeeded in my attempt this morning was to escape to america immediately and from there write under the de which i have already made known i can write as easily in english as in french for my friend was very kind and took a great liking to me and stayed in for a year and a half simply for the pleasure of me and his theories upon my young i and mind and now we are as one in our hopes and and the years make little between us he was twenty two when i was but fifteen but now that i am twenty six and he thirty three we are far better matched associates from him i learnt much of the and religious of the world from him i learnt how to speak in public he was then an actor a sort of wandering but he soon tired of the of the stage and to higher of work and he had already begun to lead the people by his powers of as he leads them now i heard him speak in french as as in english and the master christian i resolved on my part to speak likewise in english as easily as he did in french and when we parted it was with a resolve to lead to lead and ever still to lead we would starve on our theories we said but we would speak out if it cost us our very lives to earn daily bread i managed to obtain steady employment as a in the fields and i soon gained sufficient to keep my mother and myself my friend had me thoroughly with the love of incessant hard work there was no disgrace he said in digging the soil if the brain were kept working as well as the hands and i did keep my | 33 |
brain working i allowed it also to lie and to everything of nature that was complex grand and beautiful and from such studies i learnt the goodness and the majesty of the creator as they are never found in of him made by the of at eighteen i made my first public address and the next year published my first book in but though i won an instant success my soul was and heavy with the burning thought of vengeance and this thought greatly the true of life that i desired to entertain when my mother died and her voice for the last time ah la the spark of hatred i had cherished all the years of my life for my father burst into a flame and up to its final height this morning as you saw now it has gone out into dust and ashes the way of all such flames i have been spared for better things i hope what i have written and done france knows but my thoughts are not limited to france they seek a wider horizon france is a nation her doom is sealed i work and write for the to be not the has been such as my life is it has never been darkened or brightened by love of any sort save that which my mother gave me your eminence and he turned towards the cardinal asks me why i theories which suggest change terror and confusion terror and confusion can never be caused save among the ranks of those who have secret reason to be there is nothing in truth to those who are true if i and alarm societies es d and miserable i am on y n the master christian of the that sweeps out the and the dust from a dirty house my one desire is to make the habitation of christian souls clean terror and confusion there will be there must be the time is ripe for it none of us can escape it it is the period of men s hearts failing them for fear and looking after those things which are coming on the earth i have not made the time i am bom of it one with it god these things i am not working for self or for money i can live on bread and and water i want no luxurious surroundings no no no no sympathies i set my face forward in the teeth of a thousand winds of opposition forward still forward i seek nothing for my own personal needs i know that nothing can hinder me or keep me back nothing i voice the cry of multitudes they have as it were been wandering in the wilderness listening to the gospel for many days days which have accumulated to more than eighteen hundred years just as they did of old only the master did not send them away hungry he fed them lest they should faint by the way he thought of that possibility we seldom care how many faint by the way or die in the effort to live i must i will speak for the dumb mouths of the nations and every that can so speak or can so write should hasten to turn itself into a flame of fire to blaze and bum a warning upon the verge of this new century causing men to with divers tongues of the truth of god not of the lies that have been made to represent him raised one hand with a slight gesture silence and seemed wrapped for a moment in painful meditation looking anxiously up at him caught not his glance but that of who smiled at her presently the cardinal spoke gently and with a kind of austere patience am i to understand from your speech my son and the work of your life that you consider the church a lie i put the question plainly but i do not ask it either to reproach or you i am well aware i can do neither thought is free to the individual as well as to the nations and whereas in past time we had one man the master christian who could think and speak we have now a thousand we are unfortunately apt to forget the spread of education but a man who thinks as you do and dares all things for the right to act upon his thought should surely be able to clearly explain his reasons for himself against any outwardly expressed form of faith which has received the acceptance and submission of the world i do not attack any faith faith is necessary faith is superb i honour this virtue whether i find it in the followers of the or the or the new testament and personally speaking i would die for my belief in the great name and teaching of christ i attack the church yes and why because it has departed from the faith because it is a mere system now corrupt in many parts as all systems must naturally become when worn out by long usage in many ways it stupid and in others it remains deaf and blind and to the approach of great spiritual and religious facts which are being made splendidly manifest by science why there is not a miracle in the testament that science will not make possible there is not a word christ ever spoke that shall not be proved true and may i not be called a christian i may i must i will be for i am but false measures aims and low to ignorance and vile superstition and these things must be destroyed if the church is to last with honour to itself and with usefulness to | 33 |
others to day over in england they are quarrelling with bitter concerning forms and outward of religion thus the words of the lord ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the but within ye are full of and excess now if the spirit of christ were at all in these men who thus argue there would be no trouble about forms or of faith there would be too much of the faith itself for any such petty i swear to you i say nothing teach nothing but what is the straight and true command of christ no more but also no less moved by the young man s eloquence the cardinal looked at him the the master christian you speak well he said some people would tell you that you have that of tongue which is judged dangerous but danger is after all only for those who have something to fear if we of the church are pure in our intent nothing should disturb our peace nothing should move us from our your ideas you say are founded on the master s word entirely replied i am working is working we are all working for a house of praise more than a place of prayer we want to give thanks for what we are and what if we follow the sane and healthy laws of life we may be rather than continue the for more benefits when we have already received and are receiving so much would you not pray at all then asked yes for others not for ourselves and then not as the church her form of service is direct in what way i always preface my remarks on these subjects with the words if we believe in christ i say if we believe we must accept his commands and they are plain enough when ye pray use not vain as the heathen do for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking be not ye fore like unto them for your father what things ye have need of before ye ask him now if this is to be understood as the command of christ the messenger of god do we not deliberately act against it in all directions vain the church is full of them choked with them the priests who order us to say ten or twenty by way of penance are telling us to do exactly what christ commanded us not to do the terrible of the church with its everlasting good lord deliver us is another example of vain repetition again think of these words when thou thou shalt not be as the are for they love to pray standing in the and at the comers of the streets that they may be seen of men is not all our that we may be seen of men then my son it seems that you would do away with the church altogether in the extremity of your zeal the master christian said the cardinal gently there must surely be some outward seeming some city set on a hill whose light cannot be hid some visible sign of christ among us true but such a sign must be of so brilliant and pure a nature so grand an uplifted cross of light that it shall be as the sun rising out of darkness oh i would have churches built with every possible line of beauty and curve of perfect architecture in their but i would have no no superstitious ceremonies within them no of gems no boast of the world s wealth at all but great art the result of man s great thought rendered and given with pure simplicity i would have great music and more than all i would have always and if were brought to the altar for gifts the gifts should be given out again to those in need not kept not left untouched like a s useless while one poor soul was starving my son such a scheme of as yours will take centuries to accomplish murmured slowly almost it would need christ to come again and who shall say he will not come exclaimed fervently who shall swear he is not even now among us has he not told us all to watch because we know not the hour at which he no centuries are not needed for truth to make itself manifest nowadays we hold science by the hand she is becoming our familiar friend and companion and through her guidance we have learned that the laws of the universe are truth truth which cannot be contradicted and that only the things which move and work in harmony with those laws can last all else must perish is not with me is against me or in other words himself to eternal laws must be against the whole system of the universe and is therefore a discord which is bound to be silenced christ was a divine preacher of truth and i in my humble man s way endeavour to follow truth and if i ever fail now after to day s to honour the commands of christ and o i t x as closely as i can then pass your the master christian me but not till then meanwhile give me a good man s blessing i deeply interested as he was the cardinal nevertheless still hesitated to him though the sayings and opinions of the famous were not exactly new there was something terrible in hearing him utter them with such bold and meaning he sighed and appeared lost in thought till touched him gently on the arm dear friend are you afraid to bless this man who loves our father afraid my child i am afraid of nothing but there is grave trouble in my | 33 |
heart nay trouble should never enter there said softly stretch out your hand let no human soul wait for a profoundly moved the cardinal obeyed and laid his white trembling hand on s bent head may god forgive thee the intention of thy sin to day he said in a low and solemn tone may christ guide thee out of all evil and lead thee through the of the world to s own peace which understanding i so gentle so brave so sweet and tender were the accents in which he spoke these few simple works that the tears filled s eyes and resting his head on one hand felt a strange in his throat and began to think of possible happy days yet to be passed perchance in seclusion with this long denied son of his who had sprung out of the secret ways of love first to and then to redeem him could there be a more plain and exact measuring out of law if he had not confessed his sin he would have probably died in it suddenly without a chance of or repentance but lo on confession his life had been saved as if by a miracle and the very result of evil had been transformed into consolation so he sat absorbed wondering musing and while the cardinal spoke his blessing with closed eyes all heads were bent and faces hidden and in the silence that followed the gentle gave a sign of kind dismissal and farewell to all which they understanding accepted and at once their brief v e m the master christian a moment longer than the rest to bend humbly down and kiss his ring then they left him alone with on their way out of the house through s the d paused for a few minutes to say further kind words to the respecting the invitation she had given him to her and while she was thus engaged turned hurriedly to as vou receive many letters from strangers do you not the young man regarded her earnestly with admiration glowing in his fine eyes assuredly and some of these letters are very dear to me because they make me aware of friends i might otherwise never have known you have one correspondent who is deeply interested in your theories and who keenly in all your religious views she went on lowering her eyes a certain madame he uttered a quick exclamation of pleasure you know her she looked up her eyes sparkled and she laid a finger on her lips keep my secret she said i am so glad to meet you personally at last he stared bewildered you you yes i and she smiled the mysterious and christian is so you see we have been unconscious friends for some time his face grew radiant and he made a quick movement towards her then i owe you a great debt of gratitude he said for encouragement for sympathy for help in dark hours and how unworthy i have proved of your goodness what must you think of me you so beautiful so good she moved back a little with a warning gesture his words were interrupted by the who glancing from one to the other in a little surprise said as he bent reverently over her hand and kissed it we must be going the master christian another few moments and was left alone to think over and try to the strange and events of the day whatever her thoughts were they seemed for a long time to be of a somewhat april like character for her eyes over with t even while she smiled xvii in one of the few remaining streets of rome which the hand of the modem and has not with stands the d a building with wonderfully carved and widely projecting each balcony more or less in design yet forming altogether in their the effect of complete harmony the central one looks more like a cathedral shrine than the of a window for above it angels heads look out from the curves of their own tall wings and a huge shield which might serve as a copy of that which kept bright for is poised between bearing a lily a cross and a heart in its here leaning far forward to watch the intense gold of the roman moon strike brightness and shadow out of the dark uplifted of her winged stone stood who in her delicate white attire with the resting like a on her soft hair might have easily passed for some favoured saint whom the angels were protecting and yet she was only one whom the world called a frivolous woman of society who lived on the admiration of men so little did they know her so little indeed does the world know about any of us it was true that rich lovely independent and therefore indifferent to opinions lived her own life very much according to her own ideas but then those ideas were far more simple and than anybody gave her credit for she to whom all the courts of europe were open preferred to wander in the woods alone reading some favourite book to almost any other pleasure and as for the admiration which she won by a look or turn of her head wherever she went nothing in all the world so bored her as this influence of her own charm for she had tried men and found them wanting with all the pent up passion of her woman s soul she longed t the master christian to be loved but what she understood by love was a much purer and more exalted emotion than is common among men and women she was suffering just now from an intense and overpowering rome was beautiful she but | 33 |
dull stretching her fair white arms out over the stone angels she said this and more than this to within the room who answered her in one of the most delightfully toned voices in the world a voice that charmed the ear by its first and left the listener fascinated into believing that its music was the expression of a perfectly harmonious mind you seem very discontented said the voice speaking in english but really your pathway is one of roses you think so and turned her head quickly round and looked at her companion a handsome little man of some thirty five years of age who stretching himself lazily full length in an arm chair was with the ears of an exceedingly minute s great pet and constant companion oh mon you artist and though you are or shall i say as you are supposed to be and she laughed a little you are like all the rest of your sex just because you see a woman able to smile and make herself agreeable to her friends and wear pretty clothes and exchange all the bon of and every day you imagine it impossible for her to have any sorrow there is only one sorrow possible to a woman replied the gentleman who was no other than the ideal of s life smiling as he spoke with a look in his eyes which conveyed an almost meaning left the balcony abruptly and swept back into the room looking a charming figure of like and elegance in her clinging gown of soft white satin over with lace and pearls only one sorrow she echoed and that is inability to win love or to awaken desire replied still smiling the pretty raised her golden head a little more proudly with the air of a lily lifting itself to the light on its stem her deep a ie t ts the master christian i certainly cannot complain on that score i she said with a touch of malice as well as coldness but the fact that men lose their heads about me does not make me in the least happy it should do so and set the little dog carefully on the floor whereupon it ran straight to its mistress uttering tiny cries of joy there is no sweeter triumph for a woman than to see men by her smile and by her frown to watch them burning themselves like in her clear flame and dying at her feet for love of her the woman who can do these things is gifted with the charm which makes or ruins life few can resist her she draws sensitive souls as a draws the needle and the odd part of it all is that she need not have any heart herself she need not feel one pulse of the passion with which she others indeed it is better that she should not the less she is moved herself the greater is her fascination love far more incessantly and passionately at a closed gate than an open one was silent for a minute or two looking at him with something of doubt and disdain the room they were in was one of those wide and lofty apartments which in old days might have been used for a prince s audience chamber or a dining hall for the of the g youth of imperial rome the ceiling supported by eight slender marble columns was richly with scenes from s poems some of the figures being still warm with colour and instinct with life and on the walls were the fading remains of other pictures the among them being a laughing poised on a knot of and shooting his arrow at random into the sky ordinarily speaking the huge room was bare and to a degree but the s wealth combined with her good taste had filled it with things that made it as well as beautiful the velvet pile carpets laid over the of folded covered the marble floors and deprived them of their usual chill great logs of wood burned cheerfully in the wide chimney and flowers in every sort of quaint or bowl made bright with colour and blossom all dark and gloomy comers and softened every touch of melancholy away a grand piano stood o w r the master christian a tied with bright ribbons lay on a little table near a cluster of roses and books music drawings bits of old and lace were so disposed as to hide all sharp corners and forbidding angles and where the on the wall were too to be worth showing even in outline some fine old covered the defect herself in the exquisite clothing which she always made it her business to wear was the brilliant completion of the general and seemed to think so as he looked at her with the practised of admiration which is a trick common to and which some women accept as a compliment and others resent as an insult do you not agree with me he said with a smile which showed his fine and even teeth to perfection when the chase is over the hunters go home tired what a man cannot have that very thing is he tries most to obtain you speak from experience i suppose said moving slowly across the room towards the fire and caressing her little dog which she held under her rounded chin like a ball of silk and yet you more than most men have everything you can want in this world but i suppose you are not satisfied not even with is a dear little woman said with an air of condescension the dearest little woman in the world and she is really clever clever echoed is that all is not that enough is a genius with warmth and energy a | 33 |
true genius a great a sublime artist and smiled how delightful it is to hear one woman praise another women are so often like cats and hissing at each other tearing at each other s clothes and clothes even more than that it is really quite beautiful to me to hear you admire my it is very generous of you generous of me and the looked him full in the eyes why i think it an honour to know her a privilege to touch her hand all europe her she is one oi s ax s she wonderfully ot v r the master christian lazily but there is so much in that phrase for a woman your charming sex often in doing very clever and pretty things but in a man they would not be considered surprising you fairy creatures are not made for fame but for love the glanced him up and down for a moment then laughed and for desertion and neglect as well she said and sometimes for upon your charming sex every fortune and every good blessing and getting kicked for our pains i and sometimes it happens that we are permitted the amazing honour of toiling to keep you in food and clothing while you jest at your clubs about the of woman s work in the world yes i know t have you seen s great picture again smiled great no i know that the dear little girl has fixed an enormous canvas up in her and that she actually gets on a ladder to paint something upon it but it is always covered she does not wish me to see it till it is finished she is like a child in some things and i always humour her i have not the least desire to look at her work till she herself is willing to show it to me but in myself i am convinced she is to do too much it is altogether too large an attempt what are you doing asked abruptly merely delicate trifles little of art said with languid satisfaction they may possibly please a but they are quite small studies you have the same model you had last year their eyes met and shifted uneasily in his chair the same he replied again laughed creature she murmured the noblest of her sex of course men always call the women who to their vices noble flushed an angry red you are pleased to be sarcastic fair lady he said carelessly i do not understand no you are not usually so dense with me though to those who do not know you as well as i do you some the master christian times appear to be the very of men now be frank tell me is not one of the noble women she is a very good creature gently and with an air that was almost pious she her family entirely on her how charming of her laughed and so exceptional a thing to do is it not my does the same thing she her family but and just think if ever your right hand loses its cunning as a painter will be able to support you always muttered beginning to cannot you talk of something else no not for the moment she is an interesting subject to me she will arrive in rome to morrow night and her uncle cardinal will be with her and they will all stay at the palace which seems to like a bit of the and an old torture chamber into one and talking of this same excellent cardinal they have almost him at the almost but not quite for what reason oh have you not heard it appears he performed a miracle in a child who had been a ever since and making him run about as well and strong as possible one prayer did it so it is said the news reached the some days ago our charming told me of it the secretary of the of brought the news personally to the holy father i do not believe it said indifferently the days of miracles are past and from what i know and from what has told me of her uncle cardinal he would never lend himself to such nonsense well i only tell you what is just now the talk at the said your worthy uncle in law that is to be may be pope yet have you heard from every day but she has said nothing about this miracle perhaps she does not know and began to i the master christian wn and stretch her white arms above her head lazily oh i how terribly dull is rome i how long have you been here nearly a week if i am not more amused i shall go away home to but how is one to amuse you asked sitting down beside her and endeavouring to take her hand she drew it quickly from him not in that way she said scornfully is it possible that you can be so conceited i a woman says she is dull and bored and straightway the nearest man his uncouth caresses will amuse her i when will you understand that all women are not like drew back and sullen his was wounded and he began to feel exceedingly cross the pretty laugh of rang out like a little peal of bells suppose knew that you wished to amuse me in that particularly way she went on you who to her are et is different to all other women said quickly with a kind of nervous irritation in his manner as he spoke and she has to be accordingly she is extremely fantastic full of strange ideas and unnatural of life her temperament is and dreamy self absorbed | 33 |
too at times and she is absolutely that is why she will make a model wife the drew her breath quickly blood began to and her heart to beat but she repressed these feelings and said you mean that her nature will be her safety in all temptation exactly and smiling became good natured again for to be would be a grotesque impossibility i she has no idea of the stronger sentiment of love which strikes the heart like a lightning flash and it her powers of affection are and balanced and she could not be otherwise than faithful because her whole nature is opposed to but it is not a nature which the master christian tempted inasmuch as there is no temptation which is attractive to her you think so and a sparkle of satire danced in s bright eyes really and because she is and proud you would almost make her out to be not a woman at all without heart without passion then you do not love her she is the dearest creature to me in all the world declared with there is no one at all like her i even her beauty which comes and goes with her mood is to an artist s eye like mine exquisite and more dazzling to the senses than the calm of admitted perfection in form and feature but i am something of an in character and i know that the delicacy of s charm lies in that extraordinary tranquillity of soul which you suggested the word may indeed be almost termed she is purer than snow and very much colder you are fortunate to be the only man selected to melt that coldness said with a touch of disdain myself i think you make a great mistake in calling she is all passion and but it is kept down held firmly within bounds and devoutly consecrated to you pardon me if i say that you should be more grateful for the love and trust she gives you you are not without rivals in the field raised his eyebrows rivals i am not aware of them i no i should say you had too good an opinion of yourself to imagine any rival possible said the but such a person may exist yawned and a grain of dust off his waistcoat with a fastidious thumb and finger impossible no one could possibly fall in love with now she is an no man save myself has the ghost of a chance with her of course not said impatiently because she is to you but if things were not as they are it would make no difference i assure you laughed gaily does not like men as a rule she is of romance of ol out of which come the ideas her x the master christian and she is quite with all this you think said the stronger sentiment which strikes the heart like a flash of lightning and it as you so describe it could never possibly disturb her peace i think not replied with a meditative air and i glided into love like two children wandering by chance into a meadow full of flowers no storm struck us no sudden danger signal flashed from our eyes no trembling hurry of the blood bade us rush into each other s arms and cling nothing of this marvel touched us we loved with all the calm but without the glory his voice the most fascinating quality attached to his personality rose and fell in this little speech with an exquisite half sad half sweet and creature as she was with her innate love of romance and poetry was unconsciously moved by it to a faint sigh there was nothing to sigh for really it was just a mere melodious noise of words in the making of which was an he had not an of serious thought in his remark any more than in the dainty verses he was wont to to his pictures verses which he turned out with the and ease and which read like his spoken sentences as if there were a meaning in them when truly there was none but was just then in a curious state of mind and slight things easily impressed her she was in love and yet she was not in love the handsome face and figure of the together with many of his good and even fine qualities attracted her and held her in much more than the consciousness of his admiration and pursuit of her but and this was a very interfering but indeed she was reluctantly compelled to admit to herself that there was no over the fact that he was an fast otherwise bad man his life was a long record of with women an exact of the life of the famous actor and though there is a saying that a makes the best husband was scarcely sure of being willing to try this test besides the had not offered himself in that capacity but only as a lover in paris within reach of him sur the master christian rounded by his gracious and graceful everywhere the pretty and sensitive had sometimes felt her courage out at her finger s ends and the longing to be loved became so strong and overwhelming in her soul that she had felt she must one day yield to her persistent admirer s come what would of it in the end her safety had been in flight and here in rome she had found herself like a long tossed little ship suddenly brought up to firm the vast peace and melancholy grandeur of the slowly dying mother of nations enveloped her as with a cloak from the tempest of her own | 33 |
heart and senses and being of an exquisitely refined and dainty nature in herself she had while her time in furnishing and arranging her apartments in the d her mind so to speak and cleared it from the mists of illusion which had begun to it so that she could now think of quietly and with something of a tender compassion she could pray for him and wish him all things good but she could not be quite sure that she loved him and this was well t or we should all be very sure indeed that we do love before we ourselves to the cross of sacrifice inasmuch as if the love in us be truly love we shall n t feel the nails we shall be unconscious of the blood that flows and the thorns that and sting we shall but see the great light of springing glorious out of death but if we only think we love when our feeling is the mere attraction of the senses and the lighter impulses then our is in vain and our death is death indeed some such thoughts as these had given a new charm of manner since her arrival in rome she was less but more sympathetic less but infinitely prettier and more fascinating studied her in this regard after he had uttered his little melody of sentiment and thought within himself a week or two and i could completely conquer that woman he was mistaken men who think these sort of things often are but the thought satisfied him and gave bold lustre to his eyes and brightness to his smile when he rose to take his leave he had been one of the guests at a and early dinner party given by the master christian the that evening and with the privilege of an old acquaintance he had lingered thus long after all the others had gone to their respective homes i will bid you now the e he said raising her small white hand to his lips and kissing it with a lingering pressure of what he considered a peculiarly becoming moustache when arrives to morrow night i shall be often at the shall i see you there of course you will see me there replied a impatiently am i not one of s friends true and for the sake of la you will also be a friend to me la repeated is that what you call her yes but i fear it is not original i said smiling one called his lady thus yes and s eyes darkened and grew with a sudden tenderness of thought it is a pretty phrase it should be used to you always by every man who has my present privilege said gallantly kissing her hand once more you will be my friend disengaged her hand from his you must not depend upon me she said with sudden coldness to be perfectly frank with you i am not sure that i like you you are very charming and very clever but i doubt your sincerity ah murmured softly you are right i am not myself with many people but with you you are one of the few who understand me i am the very soul of he fixed his eyes full upon her with an open and straight regard adding can you doubt me in a touching tone of wounded feeling the laughed and her face flushed well i do not know she said with a light gesture of her hands as though she threw something unpleasant away from her i shall judge of you by the happiness or sorrow of a contracted his but vl the master christian quickly and the candid smile his face once more and bowing low he turned towards the door thank you a thousand times for a very happy evening even when you are unkind to me you are still charming she murmured an in response and when he had gone and the echo of his down the great marble stairs had completely died away she went out once more to the balcony and leaned among the angels a dainty slender white figure with her soft flower like face turned up to the solemn sky where the large moon marched like an through space attended by her and of stars so slight so fragile and sweet a woman with a precious world of love pent up in her heart yet alone quite alone on this night of splendid and majestic suggestions of an so monstrous and solitary to the one delicate creature whose whole soul for a perfect love alas for this perfect love of which all the dearest women dream where shall they find it and how shall they win it too often it comes when they may not have it the cup of is offered to lips that are forbidden to drink of it because the world s stands between and turns the honey to one of the many vague problems of a future life offered for our consideration is the one concerning the righteous satisfaction of love will not those who have been bound fast as prisoners in the bonds of matrimony without love find those whose spirits are naturally one with theirs but whom they have somehow missed in this life for s fine lines are true few none find what they love or could have loved though accident blind contact and the strong necessity of loving have removed but to ere long d with wrong and the blind contact is the worst of all influences brought to bear upon the mind and heart most and the most deeply with responsibility in this regard had acted wisely by removing herself from a ox with her would be lover and ta i | 33 |
a the master christian that her doing so had caused a certain disposal of the atmosphere which almost towards complete she found nevertheless that rome as she had said was dull her heart was empty and longing for she knew not what and that deep longing she felt could not have been completely gratified by the brief of and so she sat thinking wearily wondering what was to become of her life she had riches in plenty a fine estate and castle in servants at her and call and yet with all her wealth and beauty and brilliancy she felt that she was only loved by two persons in the world her old butler and madame who had been her first and who now lived with her as a sort of dame d surrounded with every comfort and luxury and who certainly served her former pupil with a faithful worship that would not have changed even if the poverty instead of riches had been the portion of her beloved this elderly lady it was who entered now with a soft and hesitating step and raising her glasses to her eyes peered anxiously through the lighted room towards the dark balcony where stood like a fairy fallen out of the moon and who presently ventured to advance and call softly the pretty turned and smiled is it you will you come out here it is not cold and there is a lace wrap on the chair put it round your dear old head and come and be romantic with me and she laughed as the worthy obeyed her and came cautiously out among the angels wings ah dear the happy days are gone when a dark eyed roman lover would come strolling down a street like this to strike the of his and sing the dear old song ti tu non a me without thinking about it she sang this refrain suddenly in her sweet every note ringing clear on the silence of the night and as she did so a man of slim figure and medium height stepped out of the dark shadows and looked up his half laughing eyes piercing in their regard met the dreamy soft ones of the pretty the master christian woman sitting among the angels heads above hi m and pausing a moment he hesitated then lifted his hat his face was excessively delicate in outline and very pale but a half mischievous smile softened and the firm lines of his mouth and and as the played on his close curling crop of fair hair he looked different enough to most of the men in rome to be considered singular as well as handsome hidden as she was among the shadows blushed and drew back a little vexed with herself the worthy madame was very properly my dear child she murmured remember we arc in rome people judge things so strangely what an unfortunate error but became suddenly her love of and mischief got the better of her and she thrust out her pretty head over the balcony once more be quiet she whispered i was longing for a romance and here is one and a rose from her dress she tossed it lightly to the stranger below he caught it then looked up once more till we meet he said softly in english and moving on among the shadows disappeared now who do you suppose he was leaning back against the edge of the balcony with en arch glance at her it was unlike anyone else here i am sure it was somebody with very bright eyes laughing eyes audacious eyes because they laughed at me they sparkled at me like stars on a frosty night have you ever been for a ride in america no i did not take you there i forgot you would have had the poor dear well when you are in america during the winter you go for rides over the snow in a big with bells fastened to the horses and you see the stars flash as you pass like the eyes of that interesting gentleman just now his face was like a i wonder who he is i shall find out i must do something desperate for rome is so terribly dull but i feel better now i like that man s eyes they are such a contrast to the sleepy tiger eyes of the my dear remonstrated madame how can you run on in this way do you want to the master christian break any more hearts you are like a lamp for unfortunate to bum themselves in oh no not i said shaking her head with a touch of half melancholy scorn i am not a professional beauty the prince of wales does not select me for his admiration whence it follows that i cannot possibly be an attraction in europe i have not the large frame the large hands and the still larger feet of the beautiful english ladies who rule royal hearts and pockets men scarcely notice me till they come to know me and then away go their brains and they at my small feet instead of the large ones of the english ladies she laughed now how is that du tou du murmured madame studying with a wistful affection the dainty lines of s slight figure and that is an even more fatal gift than beauty du you think that is it yes and so the men grow stupid and wild some want me and some want my fortune and some do not know what they want but one thing is certain that they all quarrel together about me and bore me to even the stranger with the bright stars of an american winter for eyes might possibly bore me if i knew him she | 33 |
gave a short sigh of complete dissatisfaction to be loved really loved what a delicious thing that would be have you ever felt it the poor lady trembled a little and gave a somewhat mournful smile no you dear romantic child i cannot say with truth that i have i married when i was very young and my husband was many years older than myself he was afflicted with and and to be quite honest i could never flatter myself that he thought of me more than the there i knew that would amuse you this as s pretty tender laugh ut again on the air and though it sounds as if it were a jest it is perfectly true poor he was the drawing master at the school where i was assistant and he was very lonely he wanted to attend to him when the came on and he thought i should do as the master christian perhaps better than anyone else and i i had no time to think about myself at all or to fall in love i was very glad to be free of the school and to have a home of my own so i married him and did my best to be a good nurse to him but he did not live long poor man you see he always would eat things that did not agree with him and if he could not get them at home he went out and bought them on the sly there was no romance there my dear and of course he died and he left me nothing at all even our little home was sold up to pay our debts then i had to work again for my living and it was by answering an advertisement in the times which applied for an english to go to a family in that i first came to know you and that is all your history said poor dear how yes it is and the worthy lady sighed also but was a sigh of placid and philosophical comfort still my dear i am not at all sorry to be uninteresting i have rather a terror of lives that arrange themselves into grand with terrible love affairs as the central motives have you i have not said thoughtfully with all my heart i admire a passion sometimes i think it is the only thing that makes history one does not hear nearly so much of the in which was concerned as of his love for it is always so only few people are capable of the strength and patience and devotion needed for this great of life now i madame smiled and with tender fingers arranged one of the stray knots of pearls with which s white gown was adorned you dear child i you were made for sweetness and caresses not suffering you mistake said with sudden decision you in your fondness for me and because you have seen me grow up from childhood sometimes still view me as a child and think that i am best amused with and have not the soul in me that would endure disaster but for love s sake i would do anything yes i anything my child i the master christian yes repeated her eyes darkening and quickly in their own fascinating way i would consent to shock the stupid old world though one can scarcely ever shock it nowadays because it has itself become so shocking but then the man for whom i would sacrifice myself must love me as as i would love is the difficulty for men do not love they only desire she raised her face to the sky and the shed a golden round her that she said slowly is the reason why i have come here to avoid the he does not love me he is a villain i said madame with there are so many sighed still looking up at the brilliant heavens and sometimes if a villain really loves anybody he half his but the loves himself best of anyone in the world and i i do not intend to be second in anyone s affections so she paused do you see that star it is as bright as if it were shining on a frosty night in america and do you not notice the resemblance to the eyes of the stranger who has my rose i he will put it under his pillow to night and dream she laughed let us go in i madame followed her as she stepped back into the lighted where she was suddenly met by her little page carrying a large cluster of exquisite red and white roses a card was attached to the flowers bearing the words these many unworthy blossoms in return for one beyond all worth the read and passed it in silence to madame a smile was on her face and a light in her eyes i think rome is not so dull after all i she said as she set the flowers carefully in a tall of ware do you know i am beg to find it interesting xviii was a man who had chosen his own way of life and as a natural consequence of this had made for himself an independent and original career bom in the new world of america he had been very highly educated not only under the care of a strict father and an mother but also with all the advantages one of the finest in the states could give him always a brilliant scholar and his by leaps and bounds rather than by close and study the day came as it comes to all spirits when an overpowering weariness of body and soul took possession of him when the very of knowledge seemed absurd and all things | 33 |
both in nature and art took on a sombre colouring and the majestic of the world s progress appeared no more than a shadow too vain and futile to be worth while watching as it passed into a of such as solomon experienced when he wrote his famous sank unconsciously and to do him justice most unwillingly his was naturally a bright healthy nature but he was over his nerves did not resemble iron so much as finely tempered steel which could not but suffer from the damp and in the world s and some little within the chanced to him as it often chances to many so that the subtle music of his soul into discord with the things of life making harsh sounds in place of melody there was no adequate cause for this neither disappointed love nor ambition his days it was something altogether a delicate vague discontent which had he known it was merely the first stirring of an genius destined one day to move the world he did not know what him but he grew tired tired of books tired of music tired of the yet of science tired of even his home i the master christian and his mother s anxious eyes of love that watched his moods too closely for his peace and one day out of the merest boyish impulse he joined a company of travelling actors and left america why he did this he could never tell save that he was a student and lover of much to his own surprise and somewhat to his disgust he distinguished himself with exceptional brilliancy on the stage his voice his manner his and his bearing were all exceptional and told highly in his favour but unfortunately his and knowledge of literature went against him with his manager this personage who was ignorant and who yet had all the conceit of ignorance took him severely to task for knowing shakespeare s better than he did and high words resulted in mutual was hardly sorry when his theatrical career came thus to an end at first he had imagined it possible to become supreme in art one who should sway the emotions of thousands by a word a look or a gesture he had meant to be the greatest actor of his day and with his knowledge of french which was as perfect as his knowledge of english he had even foreseen the possibility of taking the french stage as well as the english by storm but when he gradually came to discover the mean tricks and miserable used by his fellow actors to keep a rising comrade down when he felt to the core of his soul the and of his surroundings when he the attentions of the painted called ladies of the stage and above all when he thought of the peace and refinement of the home he had for a mere forsaken the high tone of thought and feeling maintained there the exquisite and charm of womanhood of which his mother had been and was still a perfect some new and far stronger spirit rose up within him crying what is this folly am i to sink to the level of those whom i know and see are beneath me with what i have of brain and heart and feeling are these unworthy souls to drag me down shall i not try to feel my wings and make one bold dash hot higher liberty and if i do so whither shall i fly he had come to england at this m cl the master christian small provincial town where his final with the theatrical manager had taken place there was a curious silent contest going on between the inhabitants and their the was ai extremely person and the people were striving against him and fighting him at every possible point of discussion for so small a community the struggle was grim and for some time could not understand it till one day an explanation was offered him by a man engaged in leather in a dirty evil smelling little hole of a shop under a dark you see sir it s this way he said she as good a girl as ever stepped bright and and kind hearted yes that was till some black scoundrel got her love at a soft moment and took the better of her well i suppose some good christian folk would say she a bad un but warrant she worn t bad at heart but only just soft like and she an orphan with no one to look after her or say she done ill or well and there was a little child bom the prettiest little creature ye ever saw s own copy all blue eyes and chestnut hair and it just lived a matter of year and then it took sick and died went nigh mad that she did and now what do you think sir the refused to bury that there little child in consecrated ground twas born out of i what d ye think of that for a of with the loving heart what d ye think of that think said indignantly with an involuntary of his hand why that it is abominable disgraceful i should like to the brute so would a many said his with an chuckle so would a many but that s not all there s more behind and worse too why what can be worse well sir we thinks we ain t got proofs to go on for keeps her own counsel but we thinks the is the father of that there little he lay in a holy grave good god cried ay ay you | 33 |
was the yellow of the lamp that hung from the mast of the vessel casting a tremulous on the tide when all at once a great noise like the crash of thunder or the roll of cannon echoed through the air and a more brilliant than an imperial crown of diamonds through the sky from height to depth and with a blazing of flying stars and flame dropped down into the sea the startled all looked up the heavy black dropped from their brown arms just as they were about to pull in a sign of strife said one ay ay we shall a war maybe leaned far over the boat s side and looked out into the dense blackness made than ever by the sudden coming and going of the flaming sky phenomenon and half unconsciously he murmured think not that i am come to send peace on earth i come not to send peace but a sword and he lost himself in dreams of the past present and future till he was roused to give a hand in the dragging up of the now full of glistening fish with silvery bodies and eyes and then his thoughts took a different turn and wandered off as far back as the sea of when the fishing thus were called by the divine voice saying follow me and i will make you of men and in silence he helped to row the laden boat for there was no wind to fill the sail and the morning gradually broke like a great rose blooming out of the east and the sun came peering through the rose ke l o the master christian of the flower and still in a dream walked through all that splendour of the early day home to his lodging there to find himself like famous his book was in s hand his name on s tongue letters from the whom his visit to london had made his friend accompanied by a bundle of the chief newspapers of the day him that he had in one bound taken his place at the very head and front of opinion and finest proof of power the critics were out like the hounds in full cry and were already the noble the church papers were up in indignant articles were being added to the by highly respectable with a large feminine following and in the midst of all these written things which in their silent print seemed literally to make a loud in the quiet of his room in his sea stained s garb with the sparkle of the salt spray still glittering on his closely curling bright hair looked out at the clear horizon from which the sun had risen up in all its majesty and devoutly thanked god i i have written part of my message he said to himself and now by and by i shall speak but he lived on yet for a time in the remote fishing village waiting without knowing quite what he waited for while the great mouth of london roared his name in every imaginable key high and low and gradually swept it across the seas to and and all the vast new world that is so swiftly rising up with the eternal balance of things to the old and presently the rumour of his fame reached those whom he had left behind in the quiet little town of his birth and boyhood and his mother reading the frantic and still more frantic attacks of the different sections of press opinion wept with excitement and tenderness and yearning and his father startled at the strange power and authority with which this new of truth appeared to be invested trembled as he read but nevertheless held himself more erect with a pride in his own old age that he had never felt before as he said a hundred times a day in response to eager yes is my son then mother and father both wrote to and poured out their affectionate hearts to m blessed him the master christian which blessing he received with that strange heaving of the heart and of the throat which in a strong man means tears and still he waited on earning his bread in the humble village which knew nothing of him save as one of themselves for the inhabitants of the place were deaf and blind to the ways of the world and read little save old and newspapers so that were ignorant of his newly celebrated personality till one day the gave him that chance for which though he was unconscious of it he had been holding himself back and counting the slow strokes of time time which seems to beat with such a pulse when one sees some great thing to be done and while feeling all the force to do it yet has to control and keep back that force till the appointed hour strikes for action there had been a terrific storm at sea and a had gone down within sight of land sinking eight strong men with it all husbands and fathers one after the other the eight bodies were thrown back from the deep in the sullen grey morning on the day after the catastrophe one after the other they were borne reverently up from the shore to the village there to be claimed by shrieking women and sobbing children women who from more or less contented simple hearted hard working souls were transformed into the forms of greek tragedy their arms tossing their hair streaming their faces haggard with pain and their eyes blind with tears throughout the heart scene worked silently with the rest the stiff limbs of the dead and reverently closing the glared and staring eyes gently he had lifted fainting women from the | 33 |
to which they clung tenderly he had carried crying children home to their beds and with sorrowful eyes fixed on the still heaving and angry he had inwardly prayed for ways and means to comfort these afflicted ones and raised their thoughts from the gloom of the grave to some higher of life for they were they could neither see nor understand any adequate cause for such grief being inflicted on them and the entire little population of the village wore a attitude towards god and god s inexorable law of death wh ti the day came and the bodies oi the master christian fortunate victims were committed to the earth it happened as fate would have it that the of the parish a kindly sympathetic very simple old man who really did his best for his according to the faint perception of holy things that his brain happened to be away and his place was taken by the assistant a man of irritable and hasty temper who had a horror of scenes and who always put away all suggestions of death from him whenever it was possible it was very disagreeable to him to have to look at eight and still more disagreeable to see eight weeping surrounded by forlorn and children and he over the funeral service as quickly as he could keeping his eyes well on the book lest he should see some sobbing child looking at him or some woman dropping in a dead faint before he had time to finish he was afraid of unpleasant incidents and yet with all his and nervous hurry to avoid anything of the kind an unpleasant incident insisted on itself just as the fourth coffin was being lowered into the ground a wild haired girl rushed forward and threw herself upon it oh mv man my man she my own sweetheart there was a moment s silence then one of the stepped out and approaching the girl laid her hand on her arm are ye making a mock of me mary bell she said or is it god s truth ye re speaking to my husband lying there the creature called mary bell looked up with a sudden passion glowing in her tear wet eyes it s god s truth she cried and ye needn t look scorn on me for both our hearts are broken and no one can ever mend them yes it s god s truth he was your husband but my sweetheart and we ll neither of us see a finer man again the listened amazed and aghast was nothing going to be done to stop this scandalous scene he looked from right to left but in all the g of folk not a man moved were these two women going to fight over the dead he and began in a thin r x the master christian when he was again interrupted by the passionate speech of mary bell i m for ye she said lifting herself from the coffin to which she clung and turning upon the widow of the drowned man and ye can be just as sorry for me i he loved us both and why should we quarrel a man is ever like that just and but he tried his honest hardest not to love me yes he tried hard it was mv fault for i never tried i loved him i and ru love him till i go where he is gone and we ll see who god u give his soul to this was too much for the woman i he thundered be silent how dare you boast of your sin at such a time and in such a place i take her away from that coffin some of you so he commanded but still not a man moved the began to lose temper in earnest take her away i tell you and he advanced a step or two i cannot permit such a scandalous interruption of this service patience patience said one of the men standing by when a woman s heart s broke in two ways it ain t no use worrying her she ll come right of herself in a minute but the never famous for forbearance at any time was not to be with turning to his he said i refuse to go on the woman is drunk but now the widow of the dead man suddenly took tip the argument in a shrill voice which almost tore the air to she s no more drunk than you are she cried passionately leave her alone you re a nice sort of god s serving man to comfort we when we re all nigh on losing our wits over this o misery shame on ye i mary bell come here i if so be as my husband was your sweetheart god forgive him ye shall come home wi me and we ll never have a word the man who is lying dead there come wi me mary with a wild cry of anguish the girl rushed into her arms and the two women clung together like sisters united in the same passionate grief the turned a white i the master christian i cannot countenance such he said addressing the though his words were heard by all present enough of the service has been said lower the into the earth and turning on his heel he prepared to walk away but stopped him you will not finish the service sir he asked but with something of a warning in the flash of his eyes no the principal part of it is over i cannot go an these women are drunk they are not drunk save with their own tears said his rich voice trembling with indignation they are not mad except with grief is it not your place to be patient with | 33 |
sank to a dead calm and with the night a shield like moon all glistening and silver rose up out of the east with a royal air of white and wondering c mi t to the master christian claimed her entire for any by storm and in the full radiance of that silvery splendour leaning against the sea weed covered of the round which of wet rope like the body of a sleeping serpent told to an audience of human hearers for the first time the story of his life and adventures and the varied experiences he had gone through in order to arrive at some straight and clear comprehension of the way the truth and the life of the of love and mutual labour his practised voice perfect in all and expression carried each simple well chosen word home to the hearts of his hearers not one so ignorant as not to understand him not one so blind as not to see the beauty of work and effort as he depicted them not one so as not to feel the calm the grandeur and repose of the strong soul of a man in complete sympathy with his fellow men they listened to him almost their weather beaten faces all turned towards his forgetting to smoke they let their pipes die out and drop from their hands and no interruption broke the even flow and of his earnest language save the slow ripple of the water against the and the faint occasional sigh of a stirring wind black against the radiant sky were the of the fishing fleet and the roofs of the s cottages dwellings so often made desolate by death and as noted the fascinated attention with which these rough men heard him his heart grew strong if a few listen so will many he said to himself the master of our creed first taught his divine to a few to them the message was first g ven and by them again delivered and it is through our having departed from the original simplicity of utterance that all the evil has crept in so let me be content with this night s work and await the future with patience then lifting up his voice once more he said you think your lot a hard one you friends and brothers who set the brown sails out to sea on a night of threatening storm and bid farewell to your homes built safe upon the shore you must meet all the horror of white foam and cloud blackness to drag from the sea its spoil and earn the bread to keep a the master christian those who are dependent upon you you must do this or the forces of life will not have you they will cast you out and refuse to you for so is your fate in life and work ordained then where is you cry as the merciless rise to your frail craft why should the maker of man so deliberately destroy him why should one human doing nothing and often thinking nothing enjoy hundreds of pounds a day while you face death to win as many pence is there a god of love who this injustice ah stop there friends there is no such thing as injustice i strange as it sounds to this world of many and i repeat there is no such thing as injustice there is what see fits injustice because we are all apt to consider the material side of things only that is where we make our great mistake in life and conduct we should all remember that this world and the things of this world are but the outward expression of an inward soul the matter from mind and that unless we are ourselves in harmony with the mind we shall never understand the matter your is surrounded with luxuries your has dry bread and your dies with a famous doctor counting his pulse beats and a respectable clergyman promising him heaven on account of the money he has left to the church in his will your goes down in a of black water without a prayer for he has no time to pray without leaving a penny behind him inasmuch as he has no pence to leave and for both these different creatures we judge the end is come no the end is not come it is the beginning only if the has died with a thousand selfish in his mind if his life s privileges have been wasted in high feeding and self indulgence if he has thought only of himself his riches his pride his position or his particular form of respectability he will get the full result of that mental attitude if the has been content with his and thanked god for them if he has been honest brave true and unselfish and has shared with others their joys and sorrows and if at the last he goes down in the waves trying to save some other life while losing his own depend upon it he will rise to the all splendour of that u t ot both the master christian and are but men made on the same lines of the same clay and are each one personally and separately responsible to god for the soul in them and when both of them pass from this phase of being to the next they will behold all things with spiritual eyes not material ones and then it may be that the dark will be discovered to be the bright and the fortunate prove to be the deplorable for at present we see through a glass darkly but then face to face the friends whom we have buried to day are not dead for | 33 |
death is not death but life and for those who are left behind it is merely a time of waiting for as the master said there shall not a hair of your head perish in your patience possess ye your souls he paused a moment the moon rays his delicate features and a half sorrowful smile rested on his lips i am no clergyman my friends i i have not been ordained i am not preaching to you i will not ask you to be good men for there is something in the sound of such a request made to strong fellows such as you are with an oath ready to leap from your lips and a blow prepared to fly from your fists on provocation i will merely say to you that it is a great thing to be a man a man as god meant him to be brave truthful and self with a firm faith in the divine of life as life should be lived there is no disgrace in work no no meanness disgrace and meanness are with those who pretend to work and never do anything useful for the world they live in the king who himself at the expense and ruin of his subjects is the contemptible person not the who the soil for the planting of corn which shall help to feed his fellows and the most creature of our time and century is not the man who doubts christ or questions god for christ was patient with the and god answers through the medium of science every honest question it is the man who to believe and lives on the pretence while his conduct gives the lie to his profession that is why you and why thousands of others like you are beginning to look upon many of the clergy with v and to treat their with v the master christian why thousands of the rising generation of men and women will not go to church the parson does not do anything for me is a common every day statement and that the parson should do something is a necessary part of his business his doing should not consist in talking from the pulpit or in sending round a collection plate and if he has no money and will not sell half that he has and give to the poor as commanded he can at any rate give sympathy but this is precisely what he chiefly the parson s general attitude is one of either superiority or a looking down upon his poor a looking up to his rich ones a disinterested loving observation of the troubles and difficulties of others never occurs to him as necessary but this was precisely the example christ gave us an unselfish example of devotion to others s supreme descent of the divine into man to rescue and bless humanity now i know all your difficulties and sorrows i have worked among you and lived among you and i feel the pulse of your existence beating in my own heart i know that when a great calamity you all as it has done this week you have no one to comfort you no one to assure you that no matter how strange and impossible it seems you have been deprived of your associates for some good cause which will be made manifest in due season that they have probably been taken to save them from a worse fate than the loss of earth consciousness in the sea for that speaking is all that death means the loss of earth consciousness but the gain of another consciousness whether of another earth or a heaven none can say but there is no real death inasmuch as even a grain of dust in the air will life we must hold fast to the soul of things the soul which is immortal not the body which is mortal what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul that is what each man of us must find and hold and keep his own soul i apart from all and clergy forms and that is the vital matter stand clear of all things all alone if need be surrounded by the forces of this great universe let us find each man of us his own soul find and keep it brave truthful upright and bound straight on for the x t always the master christian and the very stars in their courses will help us storms will but strengthen us difficulties but encourage us and death itself shall but give us larger liberty he ceased and one by one the men drew closer to him and thanked him in voices that were tremulous with the emotion he had raised in them the instinct which had led them to call him gentleman had proved correct and there was not a man among them all who did not feel a thrill of almost pride in the knowledge that the hard working mate who had with them and worked with them in all had without any boast or preparation made his name famous and fit for discussion in the great world of london far away a world to which none of them had ever and they pressed round him and shook his hand and gave him simple yet hearty words of cheer and together with unaffected expressions of regret that he was leaving them though for that matter said one of them we felt you was a like for all that you was so handy at the for never did a bit of shell or weed come up from the sea but ye was a at it as if god had it to yer for | 33 |
particular notice and when a man takes to common things as if they were special birthday presents from the almighty ye may be pretty sure there s something out of the ordinary in him smiled and pressed the hand of this roughly eloquent speaker and then they all walked with him up from the shore to the little cottage where he had lived for so many months and at the gate of which he bade them farewell but only for a time he said i shall see you all again and you will hear of me ay ay we ll hear of ye for we ll take the papers in just for news of yer said ben with a rough laugh which covered his deeper feelings and ye u come back afore we s all and so with a few more kindly words they left him and he stood at the gate watching their figures disappear down the different of the crooked and picturesque little street god bless them all he murmured the we many a grand lesson the master christian the next day he took his quiet departure in the early morning before the village folks were up and stirring and a month later he addressed a large meeting in one of the poorest and most districts of london on the of christ the clergy which attracted universal attention and created an enormous sensation his book began to sell in thousands where it had previously sold in and he earned sufficient from the profits of the sale to keep him going in the simple fashion of clothes and food to which he had strictly himself so that he felt free to plunge into the thick of the fight and he straightway did so his name became a terror to and a sound of alarm in the ears of social he wrote another book which obtained even a larger hearing than tiie first and he spoke to the people on an average once a week wherever he could them together all his addresses were made and he soon resembled a sort of blazing torch in the darkness to which the crowds rushed for light and leading in the midst of the sensation his writings and were creating a noble lord with several church in his gift asked him to stand for parliament and offered to pay the expenses of his election at first was sufficiently tempted by the offer to pause hesitatingly on the verge of acceptance but twenty four hours hard thinking promptly pulled him together no he said i see what you mean you and your party wish to tie my hands to my mouth and make me as one of yourselves no i will not consent to it i will serve the people with all my life and soul i but not in your way i and to avoid further discussion he went straight out of england for a time and travelled through europe making friends everywhere and learning new phases of the christian at every turn in his road paris had held him fascinated for a long while not only because he saw her doom written like that of in letters of fire and ruin like a giant bird of prey hovering over her with and prepared to pick the very flesh from her bones but also because he had met one of the most rarely gifted types of womanhood he had ever seen he recognised her genius at once and at t and s did he mar the master christian at her engagement of marriage with that such a fair proud creature so splendidly endowed could consent to unite herself to a man so vastly inferior was an interesting puzzle to him he had met by chance in one winter before he ever saw and knew that half his claim to the notice of the social world there was the fact of his to the famous and moved by a strange desire to follow out this romance and also because he was his studies of the roman church viewed as a moral support to the education and elevation of man he after leaving paris and paying a brief visit to on a matter of business which could not be attended to otherwise than personally went on as though drawn by some invisible to rome he had only been hours in the city when chance had led him under the balcony where the angels the moon and from whence the sweet voice of had floated towards him with the words ti ben e tu non a me and he who had faced crowds without a tremor and had flung of splendid defiance at with the manner of a young the lightning now found himself strangely put out and disturbed in his usual composure by the innocent aspect and harmless of a rose a mere little pink things with not even a thorn on its polished green stalk he had placed it in a glass of water on his writing table and his eyes rested upon it the morning after he had received it with almost a air what was its secret why when he studied it did he see the soft hue of a fair cheek the flash of a bright eye the drooping wave of a golden web of hair the dainty curve of a white arm on which the sparkle of diamonds gleamed how was it that he managed to perceive all this in the leaves of a rose he could not tell and he was angry with himself for his inability to explain the puzzle he reminded himself that he had business in rome business he repeated sternly to his own conscience the chief part of which was to some one of the leading spirits at the the master christian taken by the of the movement in england if you | 33 |
work to do he repeated i see trouble ahead but i shall face it and if god overcome it his eyes flashed and after a moment he resumed i will write to now and to morrow to morrow i will speak can i help you brother asked the prince taken out of himself by the air of splendour and which seemed to surround the cardinal as with a divine you are fatigued with your journey let me write for you no i must do this myself and think well of all i should say he paused then added they tell me secretary to the of brought the news of this so called miracle to rome i should have liked to have seen that man to night you will see him at the said with a touch of irony that will be time enough oh innocent do you not see you will be confronted with and that and his set will be there to note your every look and gesture and privately judge as to whether you and the of the miracle between you and that if you were to see this to night that very meeting would be taken as a sign of conspiracy over the pale features of the cardinal rushed a warm glow of indignation but it died away as rapidly as it had come true he said simply i forgot if a good deed is done in the world by the force of the spirit of christ it is judged as and we must never forget that even the of our blessed lord from the dead is believed by some to be a mere matter of conspiracy among his true i forgot the blindness the melancholy blindness of the s the master christian we must always say father forgive them for they know not what they do i will write to and if you will permit me i will remain in my own rooms tonight for i must think and pray i must be alone without me my lord cardinal asked softly no not without you and looked at him with a smile not without you i have no wish to be so much alone as your absence would make me come i and lifting the heavy velvet at the door he held it back for his to pass and then slowly followed xx on the first floor of an ancient mansion in a street which slopes down towards the there is a of dreary old rooms which must evidently have once belonged to some great prince of the church to use the term which cardinal held so much in aversion if one may form any opinion from the designs on the faded g een which cling like moss to the damp walls and give an additional melancholy to the general gloom the or is perhaps the best in repair and possesses a gorgeous painted ceiling bordered by a of red and gold together with one or two large pictures which perhaps if cleaned might show the touch of some great master but which in their sad condition of long neglect present nothing to the view but a dark of indistinct outlines the rooms in their composed the business or town dwelling of one of the most and most of men to whom religion was nothing more than a means of making money and gaining power there was scarcely a roman catholic community in the world in which had not a share and he was particularly concerned in miraculous which were to him exactly in the same as companies are to the on the stock exchange he had been cautious prudent and calculating from his earliest years from the time when as the last male of the house of he had been educated for the career at the college of he had read widely and no religious or social movement took place anywhere without his knowing of it and admitting it into his calculations as a sort of new figure in his sum he was an extensive in the business and a careful in all the religious of the and superstitious his career had been the master christian very successful so far he had a considerable fortune and away out towards he had a superb villa furnished with every modem luxury and convenience not in his own name but in that of a man whom he paid heavily to serve him as his tool and where a beautiful condescended to live as his mistress he was a for himself if not for his country and kept his finger on the pulse of european politics as well as on the of new but he never troubled himself seriously as to the possible growth of any movement or society or as experience had taught him that no matter how may theories and support them there is always a dense and steady wave of opposition against everything new and that few can be found whose patience will hold out sufficiently long to enable them to meet and ride over that wet wall of dull resistance was a most useful man at the as he never failed to comfort the pope whenever that holy personage was cast down or afraid of brooding when the representative of the christ ventured to give it out as his christian opinion that the unhappy and would be found guilty agreed with him when his as a wicked association formed for and purposes though he knew well enough that it was a formed for the mutual help and of its members it too in the gardens of the but not elsewhere there was nothing really either in the way of or other sort of society that he was afraid of no anxiety whatever troubled his mind except the possibility of losing money by some speculation in | 33 |
has since developed i cannot congratulate you on your pupil said smiling coldly the offspring of a priest s sin is not likely to do the world any credit the son of the may become notorious but never famous started up from his chair doubting whether he had heard aright the son of he exclaimed is it possible no you must surely be mistaken i know the i saw him in paris but a fortnight ago indeed well since that time strange things have happened said still preserving his calm of we have had our news from an of ours in paris on secret service to put it briefly for no particular cause whatever save perhaps the idea which may be only an idea that he is going to die soon has made a public confession of his twenty five year old crime and in a address preached from the pulpit of dame de tjie son known to the world as g s the master christian was present in the church and fired a pistol shot at his father hoping to murder him then came the theatrical of the whole scene the ordered the to release the him to be his son and finally the incident of all there took place the mutual pardon and reconciliation of both parties in the presence of one of our most respected and beloved princes of the church cardinal whose grave error in this matter is causing and loving sorrow to the holy father a curious expression began to appear in the delicate lines of s face an expression which some of his london knew so well and which generally meant war you surprise me he said in quiet accents events move quickly i know in a quickly moving age still your news is entirely unexpected i never knew till now who the father of my friend was do know i think the public confession you tell me of was the only fitting such a man as the could make to the dead woman who was his wife in the sight of god as well as to his living son and the public generally i never quite liked or trusted the but if all this be true he has risen a hundred per cent in my opinion as for cardinal one of the noblest and purest of men you surely cannot be in earnest when you speak of his having committed a grave error you know the cardinal asked the question i was presented to him in paris the day before i left for replied at the of his niece ah and balanced a paper knife lightly on the point of his long forefinger an unpleasant woman that one of the female who presume nowadays to with men in art and literature in s case there can be no question of competition answered quietly she is by far and away the best artist of her time you think so very good very good and laughed a little you are very you have a touch of the m om v an not the master christian there is a tendency in the men of the new world to be always on their knees before women strange very strange i we begin our lives in that way replied we kneel to our mothers a slight flush s yellow but he kept his smile well in evidence expressed very he said and so you have met our dear st well well and did he tell you all about the wonderful miracle he performed at a cloud of surprise with contempt darkened s intellectual brows never he said emphatically i should not have thought so much of him if he had laid any claim to such a pretence i laughed again softly what a pity he observed what a pity you clever are so violent you think the power of the is a one and that our lord has ceased to supply its ministers with the spirit of grace and the powers of healing but this is where you are mistaken the church the roman church remains as it always was and always will be the source of inspiration the seat of miracle the only clue and road to everlasting life and as for its power here he closed his hand and dropped it on the table with a silent force which was strangely expressive its power is it reaches out in every direction it it holds it keeps why will you and your co workers kick like st paul against the it is quite useless the church is too strong for any one of you aye and for any army of do you not hear the divine voice from heaven calling daily in your ears why thou me yes answered deliberately i hear that every time i enter a church i i hear it every time i see an ordained priest or minister of the gospel his time in to his own purposes the classic simplicity of christ s doctrine in some places of worship such as the church of the in that protest seems to reach its climax when one sees the priests every the master christian or so on the very where they perform mass when one notes the dirt the neglect the the sickening and barbarous superstition everywhere offered as being representative of sublime deity the force which has raised the heaven above us with its endless star patterns of living universe then the cry of why thou me seems to roll through the arches like the thunder which sometimes a general earthquake i s clear penetrating voice to the perfectly musical expression of thought was not without its usual effect even on a mind so as that of he moved uneasily in his chair he was inwardly | 33 |
with indignation and for one moment was inclined to assume the pose of the and to make himself into the of an approved stage of religion with outstretched arm menacing eyes and words that were a to wound and sting but looking under his eye at the cold half tranquillity of s pale clear cut features he felt that any attempt at acting his part would be seen through in a second by a man who was so terribly in earnest so with a benevolent and air he said yes no doubt things appear to you as they do not appear to us the spirit of faith us to see all unsatisfactory outward forms and ceremonies to the actual divine mysteries which they and perceive where we by the grace of god see nothing but harmony and though you mr receive the information with incredulity and a somewhat indifference it is a matter of rejoicing to us that cardinal has performed this miracle of healing at it would have raised him to a very high place indeed in the holy father s estimation had it not been for the strange mistake he has unfortunately made with respect to the one may cure a sick person then but one must not pardon a sinner suggested for whether is it easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee or arise and walk the one is considered a miracle the other a mistake i the master christian s cold eyes glittered we will not go into the of the question he said we will return to the point from whence we your wish expressed in this letter and he drew one from a packet on the table and glanced it over in a business like way was to obtain a private audience from the pope i repeat that to a mere and writer like yourself that is impossible sat unmoved i suppose if i were a prince of the blood royal i ould not be refused an audience he said s thick dark eyebrows went up with a of surprise at such an remark that would make a difference certainly he answered smiling the claims of have to be considered if a prince of the blood royal whose private life was a scandal to the world went on who was guilty of every vice known in the who was neither intelligent nor sympathetic whose whole career was one of self and self indulgence i say if he were to seek a private audience of the man who is declared to be the representative of christ in he would obtain it on the other hand if a man who had denied himself every personal gratification and had sacrificed his whole life in working for his fellow men and to the following of the teaching of the gospel as far as it was possible but who yet had got no further in world s wealth than to be earning from his writings a few hundreds a year he could not be received this may be but it is not christianity i i cannot enter into these matters with you began impatiently no you cannot because you dare not said boldly man you are not a christian why pretend to be one is it not time you left off what you do not feel is it not preposterous that you at your years should consent to make your life a lie in the face of deity rose up pale and trembling mr if you have come here to insult me insult you echoed not ii make a man of you if i could but that s too the master christian you are a witness of and a of it and we are none of us worthy to be called men if we do either of these two things you know as well as i do that there is no representative of the christ at the you know there is only a poor weak old man whose mind is swayed by the counsels of the self seeking around him and who passes his leisure hours in counting up money and new means of gaining it through forms of things that should be spiritual and divine if you believe christ was god how dare you with such a mystery turned his head slowly and looked round at then recovering his composure sat down and pretended to turn over some documents on the table but went on by his aspect of how dare you i say the god in man do you realize the meaning of such a phrase do you not see that it means a divine life through every of creation a force so great so pure and majestic so absolute in its working for good and yet so deliberate in its movements that it will give its creature man whole centuries of chance to find and save his own soul before utterly destroying him what has this sublime power in common with the pope who himself up in his palace a voluntary prisoner all because he is denied power power what is power compared to spiritual power if he were the true representative of christ he would move the world by deeds of benevolence goodness and in such a case as that of the unhappy for instance he would have issued a solemn warning and earnest reproach to the french nation for their cruelty he would have travelled himself to to use his personal influence in obtaining an innocent man s release with honour that would have been christian that would have been a magnificent example to the world but what did he do shut comfortably up in his luxurious palace where no harm could touch him where of the heart or soul could torture him he announced to his his opinion that the wretched martyr would be found tj n a | 33 |
tell but the master christian that his utterance thus proclaimed did not help to sway the minds of the court martial again why are there so many poor in italy if the pope were the father indeed of those who are immediately around him the land should be like the paradise flowing with milk and honey the is full of money and jewels sell half that thou hast and g ve to the poor was the command of christ does the pope do that why does he not go out among the people and work in active sympathy with them christ did so christ was never borne with solemn flourish of like a in a chair under of cloth of gold to give a blessing to a crowd who had got admission to see him by paid ticket man man the theatrical oi rome is a in the sight of heaven and most truly did st john declare this city on its seven hills to be mystery the mother of and of the earth and most clearly does god say at this period of our time come out of her my people that ye be not of her sins and that ye receive not of her for her sins have reached unto heaven and god hath remembered her the days of evil are drawing to an end rome must fall s breath came and went quickly but he kept up the outward appearance of cold composure you very well mr he said you would make an excellent park orator you have all the qualities which attract the vulgar but we we of the church know quite well how to deal with men of your class their do not affect us at all they amuse us occasionally and sometimes they pain us for naturally we grieve for the of brethren we regret the of ignorance which arise from a strong personal desire for that passage in the revelation of st john has been quoted scores of times as being to rome though as a matter of fact it distinctly here he smiled and thanks to the workings of an all wise influence rome was never more powerful than she is at the present moment her are everywhere and in england she has obtained a footing your good english q at xx i the master christian never uttered one word of reproach against the spread of our holy religion among her subjects i our prayers for the of england will yet be granted not while i live said firmly not while i can hold back but a handful from such a disaster and that handful shall hold back yet another handful i the hand of roman shall never weigh on england while there are any honest men left in it the of england the of england do you think such a thing is likely to happen because a few choose to appeal to the silly of hysterical women with such church tricks and rags of as incense and candles do not judge the english inward heart by its small outward follies there are more honest brave and sensible folk in the british islands than you think and though our foreign foes desire our fall the seed of decay is not yet in us i sat for two or three minutes in absolute silence only the of his eyelids and a slight throbbing in the muscles of his throat showed with what he suppressed his rising fury but his and powers of reasoning taught him that it would be worse than ridiculous to give way to anger in the presence of this cool determined man who though he spoke with a passion which from its very force seemed almost to sound like the mighty wind which accompanied the tongues of fire at the first still maintained his personal calm that immovable calmness which is always the result of strong inward conviction a dangerous man i yes there was no doubt of that he was one of those concerning whom wrote let the world beware when a comes into it was a and more than that he was a he was of the strong heroic type of genius that turns its dreams into facts its thoughts into deeds he did not talk in common with so many men of what they considered ought to be done without themselves to do it he was sincerely in earnest and cared nothing for any personal loss or inconvenience he might suffer from carrying out his intentions and saw that there was little or no possibility of moving such a man from the firm ground of truth which he had elected to stand on there is nothing so inconvenient in this world as an absolutely truthful person who can both speak and write and has the courage of his convictions one can always arrange matters with because they being by their own are compelled to study ways means and chances for appearing honest but with the man or woman who holds truth dearer than life and honour more valuable than advancement there is nothing to be done now that cannot insist on the cure as in the case of looking under his eye the master christian at s figure and classic head felt he could have willingly poisoned or him for there were and are great interests at stake in the of england it is truly one of the largest financial schemes ever set afloat in the world if those whose duty it is to influence and control events could only be brought to see the practical side of the matter and set a check on its advancement before it is too late knew what great opportunities there were in of making large fortunes and not only of making large fortunes but of obtaining incredible power there was a great plan of drawing american and | 33 |
english wealth into the big church net through the medium of superstitious fear and sentimental and an and enemy like physically handsome with such powers of as are only granted to the very few was capable of wo men as well as men and women as well recognised are the chief of the system uneasily he thought of a certain wealthy american whom he had persuaded into thinking herself specially favoured and watched over by the virgin mary and who overcome by the strong imaginary consciousness of this heavenly protection had signed away in her will a million of pounds sterling to a particular shrine in which he had the largest share of financial profit now suppose she should chance to come within the of s attractive personality and teaching and this deeply he sat considering yet he was conscious enough of his own to persuade or move this man a i am very sorry he said at last without raising his eyes and carefully preserving an and mild tone of voice i am sorry you are so harsh in your judgments mr and still more sorry that you appear to be bent on opposing the roman catholic movement in england i will do you the justice to believe that you are moved by a sincere though conviction and it is out of pure kindness and interest in you that i warn you how useless you will find the task in which you have engaged the force of rome is the interpretation of the gospel by the pope any man no matter how wc or moved by the master christian he to be truth and alas i how often error is mistaken for truth and truth for error i must be crushed in the endeavour to cope with such a ordained power the car of was considered to be ordained said and the wretched and ignorant flung themselves under it in the fit of hysterical to which they were excited by the priests of the god and so perished in their thousands not they were to blame but the men who invented the and encouraged the slaughter they had an ideal the priests had none i but had its end and so will rome i you call yourself a christian asked with a touch of derision most assuredly i do replied most assuredly i am i love and honour christ with every fibre of my being i long to see that divine splendour of the ages stand out white and shining and free from the mud and with which his priests have him i believe in him absolutely but i can find nowhere in his gospel that he wished us to turn religion into a sort of stock company managed by in rome i what do you know about the as you call them of rome asked slowly his eyes at the comers and his whole countenance expressing disdain do you think we give out the complex and necessary workings of our sacred business to the public no i do not replied for you keep the public in the dark as much as you can your methods of action are precisely those of the priests of ancient egypt who with what they were pleased to call their sacred mysteries in the same way as you do race copies race roman christianity is upon roman when the were all dead and their who had never been in personal touch with christ came on to the scene of action they discovered that the people of rome would not do without the worship of woman in their creed so they cleverly the virgin mary for and they turned the statues oi gods and heroes ig ol the master christian and saints they knew it would be unwise to deprive the of what they had been so long accustomed to and therefore they left them their swinging their gold and their candles thus it is that roman became and is still merely a christian form of which is made to i pay successfully just as the and of ancient days were made to pay as and theatrical i should not blame your church if it declared itself to be an of at once or any other form of faith deserves respect as long as its priests and followers are sincere but when their belief is a mere pretence and their system into a scheme of making money out of the fond of the ignorant then i consider it is time to protest against such in the presence of god and all things divine and spiritual had listened to these words very quietly his countenance gradually and into an amiable expression of forbearance he looked up now at with a smile that was almost you are quite right mr he said gently i begin to understand you now i i see that you have studied deeply and you have thought still more if you will continue your studies and your thinking also you will see how difficult it is for us to move as rapidly with the times as you would have us do you must remember that it would be quite possible for holy mother church to rise at once to the high scientific and position you wish her to adopt if it were not for the mass of the ignorant with whom one must have patience you are a man in the prime of life you are zealous eager for improvement yes i all that is very admirable and but you forget the numerous and widely interests with which we of the church have to deal for the great majority of persons it would be useless for example to give them lessons on the majesty of god s work in the science of they would be confused bewildered and more or less frightened out of faith altogether they must | 33 |
there are worse things than death he said simply smiled kindly and there are worse things than life he said life holds a good many harmless which i am afraid you are putting away from you in your prime for the sake of a mere but after all what does it matter one must have a some men like horse racing others book collecting others pictures and so forth you like the religious question well no doubt it affords you a great many opportunities of studying character i shall be very happy here he extended his hand cordially to show you anything that may be of interest to you in rome and to present you to any of our brethren that may assist you in your i can give you a letter to declined the offered introduction with a decided negative shake of his head no he said i know cardinal that is enough but there is a great difference between and said with twinkling eyes is scarcely ever in rome he lives a life apart and has for a long while been considered as a kind of saint from the privacy and of his life but he has his arrival in the eternal city triumphantly by the performance of a miracle what do you say to this you who would do away with things miraculous i say nothing till i hear answered i must know what the nature of the so called miracle is i am a in soul forces and in the of spiritual qualities affecting or others but in this there is no miracle it is simply natural law well you must interview the cardinal yourself said and tell me afterwards what you think about it if indeed you but you will the master christian not find him at home this morning he is summoned to the on account of the miracle or the scandal the asked both matters are under discussion i believe replied but they are not in my province now can i be of any further service to you mr no i am sorry to have taken up so much of your time said but i think i understand your views i hope you do interrupted and that you will by and by grasp the fact that my views are shared by almost holding any church authority but you must go about in rome and make for yourself now let me do you know the d no oh you must know her she is a great friend of s and a witty and brilliant personage in herself she is rather of your way of thinking and so is out of favour with the church but that will not matter to you and you will meet all the dissatisfied and enthusiastic of the earth in her i i will tell her to send you a card said something by way of formal acknowledgment and then took his leave he was singularly depressed and his face always quick to show traces of thought had somewhat lost its former expression of eager animation the had for the time so influenced his sensitive mind as to set it almost to the tune of the most despairing of s two voices a life of nothing worth from that nothing ere his birth to that last nothing under earth what was the use of trying to a truth if the majority preferred a lie will one bright beam be less intense when thy peculiar is in the world of sense and noted the touch of the slight of the shoulders and a t oi mv io the master christian to the otherwise straight slim figure as it passed from his presence and smiled he had succeeded in putting a check on unselfish and had thrown a doubt into the pure intention of enthusiastic toil that was enough for the present and scarcely had crossed the threshold scarcely had the echo of his departing footsteps died away when a heavy velvet curtain in the apartment was cautiously thrust aside and stepped out of a recess behind it with a dignity and composure which would have been impossible to any but an italian priest convicted of playing the spy faced him confidently well he said with a more expressed in his look than in the simple well i echoed as he slowly advanced into the centre of the room you have not done as much as i expected you would your arguments were clever but not to a man of his obstinacy convincing and sitting down he turned his dark face and gleaming eyes full on his who with a shrug of his massive shoulders expressed in his attitude a of the whole business you have not pursued deliberately grasped anything like the extent of this man s determination and indifference to results please mark that last indifference to results he is apparently alone in the world he seems to have nothing to lose and no one to care whether he or fails a most dangerous form of independence and in his and eloquence he is actually stopping yes i repeat it stopping and putting a serious on the advancement of the roman catholic party and of course any check just now means to us a serious financial loss both in england and america in which will very gravely certain necessary measures now under the consideration of his i expected you to grasp the man and hold him not by but by flattery you think he is to be caught by so common a bait said he would see through it at once i maybe replied but perhaps not if it were administered in the way i mean you seem to have forgotten the chief oi cm i brought the master christian to bear upon the heart and mind of a | 33 |
man and that is woman laughed outright upon my word i think it would be difficult to find the woman suited to this case he said but you who have a deeper than that of any jew may possibly have one already in view there is now in rome pursued speaking with the same even deliberation of accent a faithful daughter of the church whose wealth we can to a certain extent command and whose charm is the started eyed him coldly you are not stricken surely by the fascination with which this princess of rules her court he i echoed shifting his position so that s gaze could not fall so directly upon him i you jest i think not said i think i know something about women their their passions their different of power possesses a potent charm which few men can resist and i should not wonder if you yourself had been occasionally conscious of it she is one of those concerning whom other women say they can see nothing in her ah and smiled darkly what a compliment that is from the majority of women to one this woman is unique where is her beauty you cannot say yet beauty is her very she cannot boast perfection of features she is frequently hidden away altogether in a room and scarcely noticed and so she reminds me of a certain flower known to the eastern nations which is difficult to find because so fragile and small that it can scarcely be seen but when it is found and the scent of it it drives men mad looked at him with a wondering smile you speak so he said that one would almost fancy fancy nothing retorted quickly fancy and i are as far apart as the poles except in the putting of words in which easy art s the master christian great an as who can write verses on love or patriotism to order without a touch of either emotion what a by the way that fellow is and broke off to consider this new point he of the honour of italy and would not let his finger ache for her cause and he to love the while all rome knows that is his mistress wisely held his peace the is the little magic flower you must use resumed his words with an movement of his hand use her to bring them together he will lose his head as surely as all men do when they come under the influence of that soft deep eyed creature with the full white breast of a dove and the smile of an angel and remember it would be an excellent thing for the church if he could be persuaded to marry her there would be no more preaching then for the thoughts of love would the theories of religion you think it i know it replied rising and preparing to take his departure but play the game cautiously i make no false move for understand me well this man must be silenced or we shall lose england and with these last words he turned abruptly on his heel and left the apartment xxii cardinal sat alone in the largest ana room of the large and lonely of rooms allotted to him in the alone at a massive writing table near the window his head resting on one hand and his whole figure expressive of the most profound in front of him an ancient silver gleamed in the of the small wood fire which had been kindled in the wide chimney and a copy of the lay open as if but lately consulted the faded splendour of certain gold embroidered on the walls added to the solemn and melancholy aspect of the apartment and the figure of the venerable seen in such darkening gloom and solitude was the crowning completion of an expressive and pathetic picture of patient desolation so might a of the have looked while the flames were getting ready to burn him for the love of the gentle and something of the temper of such a possible was in the physically frail old man who just now was all the energies of his mind on the consideration of a difficult question which is often asked by many hearts in secret but is seldom to the public ear christ or the church which must i follow to be an honest man never had the good cardinal been in such a strange living away from the great of thought and action he had followed a gentle and placid course of existence almost save by the outside murmurs of a growing public discontent which had reached him through the medium of current literature and had given him cause to think uneasily of possible disaster for the religious world in the near future but he had never gone so far as to imagine that the head of the church would while being perfectly conscious of existing threatening evils deliberately turn his back to appeals for help shut his ears to the cry oi o j the master christian sheep of the house of and even endeavour with an of indignation which was as pitiable as useless to shake a rod of twelfth century menace over the advancement of the twentieth for the onward movement of humanity is gk d s work said the cardinal and what are we what is even the church when it does not move side by side in perfect and pure harmony with the order of divine law and he was bitterly troubled in spirit he had spent the whole morning at the and the manner of reception there had been so curiously divided between flattery and reproach that he had not known what to make of it the pope had been and precisely in such a humour | 33 |
god and i i love him too you would serve him and i i would obey him ah do not struggle with yourself dear and noble friend if you were thrice crowned a martyr and saint you could not see otherwise than clearly you could not but accept v truth is the master christian to you you could not swear before god i would the christ not say now as he said so many centuries ago my house is called the house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves is it not truly a den of thieves what has the man of sorrows to do with all the evil splendour of st peter s its its its colossal statues of dead gods its glittering its miserable dreary its and insolent vulgarity of cost oh what a loneliness is that of christ in this world what a second agony in the sweet voice broke the fair head was turned away and cardinal overcome by such emotion as he found it impossible to explain suddenly sank on his knees and stretched out his arms to the young slight creature who spoke with such a passion and intensity of child he said with tremulous appeal in his accents for god s sake you who express your thoughts with eloquence and fervent pain tell me are my mind is caught and controlled by your words you are too young to think as you do or to speak as do yet some authority you seem to possess which submit to not knowing why i am very old and maybe growing foolish in my age many troubles are gathering about me in these days do not make them more than i can bear his words were to himself and yet it seemed as if understood them himself to be clasped for a moment by the old man s trembling hands he nevertheless gently persuaded and assisted him to rise and when he was once more seated stood quietly by his side waiting till he should have recovered from his sudden agitation dear friend you are weary and troubled in spirit he said tenderly then and my words seem to you only terrible because they are true if they grieve you it is because the grief in your heart echoes mine and if i do think and speak more seriously than i should it is for the reason that i have been so much alone in the world left to myself with my own thoughts of god which are not thoughts such as many care for i would not add to your sorrows i would rather i i the master christian could but i feel and fear that shall be a burden upon you before long never exclaimed fervently never a burden on me child i surely while i live you will not leave me was silent for a little space his eyes wan from the cardinal s venerable worn features to the silver that gleamed in the glow of the wood embers i will not leave you unless it is well for you that i should go he answered at last and even then you will always know where to find me the cardinal looked at him earnestly and with a searching but the boy s face though sweetly composed had a certain gravity of expression which seemed to forbid further questioning and a deep silence fell between them a silence which was only broken by the door opening to admit prince who pausing on the threshold said brother if you will allow yourself to be disturbed would like to see you in her there are several people there her among the and i think girl would be glad of your presence the cardinal started as from a dream and rose from his chair i will come at once yes i will come he said i must not be selfish and think only of my own troubles he stood erect he was still in the scarlet robes in which he had made his appearance at the and they fell about his tall dignified form the vivid colour the of his thin features a servant entering at the moment with two large silver with lights created an of in the room that made him appear to even greater advantage as an imposing figure of authority and prince looked at him with the admiring affection and respect which he though a and had always felt for the brother of his wife affection and respect which had if anything become since that beloved one s death you were well received at the he said the master christian not so well as i had hoped replied the cardinal patiently not so well but the cloud will pass i will go with you to the will you stay here bent his head in assent he had just closed the before open copy of the and now stood with his hand upon the book i will wait till you call me my lord cardinal he replied prince then led the way and cardinal followed his scarlet robes sweeping behind him with a rich rustling sound and as the two entered the large lofty hung with old and with deeply carved and gilded oak the room which was s special all the persons there assembled rose from their different sitting or lounging attitudes and respectfully bent their heads to the brief and given to them by the venerable relate of whom all present had heard but few had seen nd made way for him as met and escorted him to a seat on one of the old throne like chairs with which the palace was so amply supplied when he was thus he made the picturesque centre of a brilliant little | 33 |
scene enough one of those bright which can be found nowhere so perfectly blended in colour and in movement as in a great art in rome are not afraid to speak to move to smile unlike the saxon race their ease of manner is and comes to them without training hence there is nothing of the stiff formality and awkward gloom which too frequently hangs like a cloud over english attempts at and that charm which is contained in the brightness and flashing of eyes a dazzling effect absolutely unknown to colder northern eyes so potent to and to command are a strangely neglected influence in certain forms of social intercourse english eyes are too often dull and downcast and wear an expression of and unless they happen to be hard and glittering and but in southern they throw out radiant invitations laughing assurances brilliant melting by the thousand flashes and make a are of feeling in the air and so in s beautiful among fc the master christian ness of classic and the soft hues of richly falling fair faces shone out like flowers lit up by eyes whose light seemed to be vividly kindled by the heat of an southern sun eyes blue as a eyes brown and brilliant as a leaf in autumn roman eyes black as night eyes of all hues full of laughter and flame and yet among all no sweeter or more tender eyes than those of ever shot glances abroad to and the heart of man not in colour or brilliancy lay their charm but in deep concentrated sweetness s sweetness so far reaching from the to the soul that it was easy to sink away into their depths and dream and never wish to wake was looking her fairest that afternoon the weather was chilly and the close fitting black velvet dress with its cape like collar of rich well became her figure and delicately fair complexion and many a little whisper concerning her went round among more but less attractive women many an involuntary but low murmur of admiration escaped from the more cautious lips of the men she was talking to the d who with her brilliant dark beauty could afford to confess the charm of a woman so as and who between various careless and smiles to her acquaintance was to her with much animation the account of her visit to the before leaving paris he must be very said the laughing for he into a rigid statue of virtue when i suggested that he should escort me to rome i did not wait to see the effect of my announcement that you were already there lowered her eyes and a faint colour her cheeks then he knows where i am she asked if he believes me he knows replied d but perhaps he does not believe me all paris was talking about the and his son when i left and the appeared as interested in that as he can ever be interested in anything or anybody so perhaps he forgot my visit as soon as it was ended t v ma v ry ill by the master christian the way his self imposed punishment and his unexpected reward in the personality of his son have proved a little too much for him both he and are at my here she raised her and peered through it with an inquisitive air there is the dear making himself agreeable as usual to all the ladies when does the marriage come off between him and our gifted i do not know answered with a little look nothing is contemplated in that way until s great picture is exhibited the d looked curiously at the opposite wall where an enormous white covering was closely and fastened across an invisible canvas which seemed to be fully as large as s still a mystery she has she never shown it even to you shook her head never and then breaking off with a sudden exclamation she turned in the direction of the door where there was just now a little movement and murmur of interest as the slim tall figure of a man moved slowly and with courtesy through the assemblage towards that comer of the where the cardinal sat his niece standing near him and there made a slight yet perfectly mr cried how glad i am to see you and i too said the cardinal extending his hand and kindly raising before he could complete his formal you have not wasted much of your time in my business was soon ended there replied it merely concerned the saving of a famous religious picture but i find the modem so dead to beauty that it is almost impossible to rouse them to any sort of exertion here he paused as with a smile moved quickly past him saying one moment mr i must introduce you to one of my dearest friends he waited with a curious sense of impatience and full beating oi his heart answering quite o t the master or two greetings from and other acquaintances who and recognised him and then felt rather than saw that he was looking into the deep sweet eyes of the woman who had flung him a rose from the balcony of the angels and that her face sweet as the rose itself was upon him as in a dream he heard her name the and his own mr he was dimly aware of bowing and of saying something vague and formal but all the of his being was for the moment shaken and and only one strong and overwhelming conviction remained the conviction that in the slight creature who stood before him gracefully acknowledging his salutation he had met his fate now he understood as he had never done before what the poet philosopher meant by the celestial rapture | 33 |
falling out of heaven for that rapture fell upon him and caught him up in a cloud of glory with all the suddenness and which must ever attend the true birth of the divine passion in strong and tender natures the calculating can never comprehend this swiftly exalted emotion this immediate of light through all life which is like the sun breaking through clouds on a dark day the has by self indulgence the edge of feeling and it is impossible for him to experience this delicate sensation of exquisite delight this marvellous assurance that here and now face to face stands the one for whom all time shall be into a song of love and upon whom all the sweetest thoughts of imagination shall be brought to bear for the of mutual joy s strong spirit set to stem labour for so long and trained to toil with but scant peace for reward now sprang up as it were to its full height of and resolution yet its power was tempered with that tender humility which in a noble hearted man before the presence of the woman whose love for him shall make her sacred all his instincts bade him recognise as the completion and fulfilment of his life and this consciousness was so strong and imperative that it made him more than gentle to her as he spoke his first few words and obtained her consent to escort her to a seat not far oflf from the cardinal yet removed from the rest ol p fc o x able them the master christian to converse for a time watched them well pleased she too had quick instincts and as she noted s sudden flush under the deepening admiration of s eyes she thought to herself if it could only be if she could forget if but here her thoughts were interrupted by her own ideal who catching her hand abruptly drew her aside for a moment i why did you not introduce the d to mr rather than the the is of his way of thinking is not and he finished his sentence by slipping an arm round her waist quickly and whispering a word which brought the colour to her cheeks and the sparkle to her eyes and made her heart beat so quickly that she could not speak for a moment yet she was supposed by the very man whose embrace thus moved her to be you must not call her she answered at last she does not like such familiarity even from you no did she tell you so and laughed what a confiding little darling you are i assure you is not so very particular but there i will not say a word against any friend of yours but do you not see she is already trying to make a fool of looked across the room and saw s intellectual head bending closely towards the soft gold of s hair and smiled i do not think would willingly make a fool of anyone she answered simply she is too loyal and sincere i fancy you do not understand her she is full of fascination but she is not heartless but entertained a very lively remembrance of the recent given to himself by the fair and took his masculine vengeance by the suggested of a shrug of his shoulders and a lifting of his eyebrows but he said no more just then and merely contented himself with a rose out of s kissing it and placing it in his own this was one of his pretty drawing room tricks according to d i w the master christian laughed at these kind of they had been the stock in trade of her late husband and she knew exactly what value to set upon them but was easily moved by tenderness and the smallest word of love the caress made her happy and satisfied for a long time she had the simple primitive notions of an innocent woman who could not possibly imagine in a sworn love looking at her sweet face earnest eyes and slim graceful figure now as she moved away from s side and passed in and out among her guests the d always watchful wondered with a half sigh how she would take the blow of if it ever came would it crush her or would she rise the nobler and stronger for it many a one here in this room to day mused the would be glad if she fell in the hard fight many a man shameful as it seems would give a covert kick to her poor body for there is nothing that and some male creatures so much as to see a woman attain by her own brain and hand a great position in the world and when she has won her crown and throne they would deprive her of both and her in the mud if they dared some male creatures not all for instance if he could only get the world to believe that he half s pictures he would be quite happy i he does persuade a few to think it but in rome we know better poor and with another sigh she dismissed the subject from her mind for the moment her attention being distracted by the appearance of who just then entered and took up a position by the cardinal s chair looking the picture of imposing and stately one glance of his eyes in the direction of where he sat absorbed in conversation with the had put the priest in an excellent humour and nothing could exceed the homage and attention he paid to cardinal talking with him in low confidential tones of the affairs which principally occupied their attention the miraculous cure of and the of from the church earnestly did the ye v l c the master | 33 |
christian was a friend explain again his utter of any miracle having been performed at his hands and with equal did he plead the cause of in the spirit and doctrine of christ pointing out that the was without any at all truly within of death and that therefore it seemed an almost unnecessary cruelty to set the ban of against a and dying man heard all with a carefully arranged expression of sympathetic interest and benevolence but gave neither word nor sign of active in any cause he had another commission in charge from and he worked the conversation on til he touched the point of his secret errand by the way he said gently among your many good and kindly works i hear you have rescued a poor stray boy from the streets of and that he is with you now is that true quite true replied the cardinal but no particular goodness can be to any servant of the gospel for trying to rescue an orphan child from misery no no certainly not i assented but it is seldom that one as exalted in dignity as yourself ah pardon me you not that word i see i do not understand it in our work said the cardinal there can be no condescension in saving the lost was silent a moment smiling a little to himself what a is this saint he thought what a fool to run at his own chances of distinction and eminence and the boy is clever he said presently in kindly accents in conduct and useful to you he is a wonderful child answered the cardinal with and feeling thoughtful be his years wise beyond his experience shot a quick glance from under his eyelids at the fine tranquil face of the venerable speaker and again smiled you have no further knowledge of him no clue to his the master none just then the conversation was interrupted by a little movement of eagerness people were pressing towards the grand piano which had opened the was about to grant a general request made to her for a song she moved slowly and with a touch of reluctance towards the instrument walking beside her you are a yourself she said glancing up at him you or you sing i do a little of both he answered but i shall be no rival to you i have heard you sing i you have when the other night or else i dreamed it he said softly i have a very sweet echo of a song in my mind words that sounded like ti and a refrain that i caught in the shape of a rose their eyes met and what calls the and of life began to stir s and set her heart beating to a new and singular exaltation the warm colour flushed her cheeks the lustre brightened in her eyes and she looked sweeter and more than ever as she loosened the rich from about her slim throat and drawing off her gloves sat down to the piano near her she saw him not at all came up to ask if she could play an accompaniment for her but she shook her bright head in a smiling negative and her small white fingers running over the keys played a rippling passage of a few bars while she raised her clear eyes to and asked him do you know an old song called le d f no it is just one of those many songs of the the search for the fortunate or the of happiness is happiness nothing but a asked gently must it always vanish when just in sight his eyes grew darkly passionate as he spoke and again s heart beat high but she did not answer in words softening the notes of her she sang in a rich whose thrilling tone penetrated to every part of the room the quaint old ballad the master christian ii vn un a non pas pour i en prison le chant d et le son des la a a qui et au d i h ami u le t listened to the sweet far reaching et au d i thither would he to that enchanted palace of love with its rainbow towers glittering in the light that never was on sea or land to the throne of that queen whose soft eyes beckoned him whose kiss waited for everything now must be for her all the world for her sake willingly lost or willingly won i and what of the work he had undertaken the people to whom he had pledged his life the great christ message he had determined to re preach for the comfort of the million lost and sorrowful his brows contracted and a sudden shadow of pain clouded the frank clearness of his eyes s words came back to his memory you have embarked in a most hopeless cause i you will help the helpless and as soon as they are rescued out of trouble they will turn and you you will try to teach them the inner mysteries of god s working and they will say you are possessed of a devil then he thought of another and saying putting his hand to the plough back is not fit for the kingdom of and over all rang the call of the s voice et le son des la a a qui et au d and he so himself in a of thought that he did not observe how closely was studying every expression of his face and he started as if he had been awakened from a dream when s song ceased and herself glanced up at him music seems to make you sad mr i she said the | 33 |
master christian not music but sometimes the fancies which music trouble me he answered bending his earnest searching eyes upon her and wondering within himself whether such a small slight thing of beauty brilliant as a tropical humming bird soft and as a dove could possibly be expected to have the sweet yet austere fortitude and firmness needed to be a true to him in the work he had undertaken and the life he had determined to lead he noted all the dainty trifles of her half half the knot of rich old lace that fastened her the solitary star like diamond which held that lace in careless position the numerous little touches of taste and elegance which made her so unique and graceful among women and a pang shot through his heart as he thought of her wealth and his own poverty she meanwhile on her part was studying him with all the close interest that a and refined woman feels who is strongly conscious of having awakened a sudden and passion in a man whom she secretly a triumphant sense of her own power moved her allied to a much more rare and beautiful emotion the sense of soul submission to a greater and higher life than her own and so it chanced that never l d she looked so charming never had her fair cheeks flushed a prettier rose never had her easy fascination of manner been so troubled by hesitation and timidity never had her eyes sparkled with a softer or more irresistible languor felt that he was fast losing his head as he watched her move speak and smile and with a sudden up of his energies resolved to make his at once i must be going he began to say when his arm was touched from behind and he turned to who smiled with all the brilliancy his white and even teeth could give him why must you be going asked cheerily why not stay and dine with my future father in law and and the eminent cardinal we shall all be charmed i thanks no i have letters to write to england good bye said l ie com t this the master christian ft i am going to drive the d round the will you join us mr the is anxious to know you may i introduce you and without waiting for a reply as the was close at hand she performed the ceremony of introduction at once in her own light graceful fashion truly a strange meeting i laughed you three ought to be very good friends the is a devout daughter of the roman church madame la is against all churches and you mr are making your own church did not reply it was not the time or place to discuss either his principles or his work moreover he was strangely troubled by hearing described as a devout daughter of the roman church i am charmed i said the d good fortune really seems to favour me for once for in the space of a fortnight i have met two of the most distinguished men of the time and bowed you are too kind madame nd i have been friends for some years though we have never seen each other since i parted from him in but we have always you have of course heard who he really is the son of continued the i have heard but only this morning and i do not know any of the details of the story then you must certainly come and drive with us said d for i can tell you all about it i wrote quite a brilliant essay on it for the and called it church morality she laughed come we will take no denial tried to refuse but could not the attraction the will o the of s dainty personality drew him on and in a few minutes after taking respectful leave of the cardinal prince and he left the in the company of the two ladies passing on the way out he received a wide smile and salute from that personage the master christian a pleasant drive to you mr he said the view from the is considered extremely fine made some formal answer and went his way returned to the and resumed his confidential talk with while one by one the visitors departed till at last the only persons left in the vast room were and prince and the two of the church was irritated and made no secret of his irritation to his fair with whom he sat a little apart from the others in the room do you want a love between and that fellow he if so it is probable that your desire will be gratified raised her delicate eyebrows in a little surprise i have no wish at all in the matter she answered except to see quite happy how very romantic is the friendship between you two women i said somewhat you wish to see happy and the other day she told me she would form her judgment of me by your happiness really it is most admirable and touching began to feel somewhat puzzled and temper were not in her character and she was annoyed to see any touch of them in her lover are you cross she asked gently something worried you to day oh i am often worried he replied and had he spoken the exact truth he would have confessed that he was always seriously put out when he was not the centre of attraction and the of women s eyes but what does it matter i do not think at all about me tell me of yourself how goes the picture it is nearly finished now she replied her beautiful violet eyes and | 33 |
brightening with the that inspired her whenever she thought of her work i rise very early and begin to paint with the first gleam of daylight i think i shall have it ready sooner i expected the queen has promised to come and see it here it is exhibited to the public di is very amiable i said with a tinge of envy he could not wholly conceal she is always useful as a patron the master christian a quick flush of pride rose to s cheeks i do not need any patronage she said simply yet with a little coldness you know that i should resent it were it offered to me if my work is not good in itself no royal approval can make it so queen visits me as a friend not as a patron there now i have vexed you and took her hand and kissed it forgive me sweetest look at me give me a smile ah that is kind and he conveyed an expression of warm tenderness into his eyes as turned her charming face upon him softened and radiant with the quick which always moved her at his voice and caress i spoke foolishly i of course my could not be she is too independent and gifted i am very glad the queen is coming the queen is coming echoed who just then advanced here to see s picture ah that will be an excellent advertisement but it would have been far better my dear young lady had you arranged with me or with some other one of my to have the picture sent to the the inspection of his the as you know have from time been tlie best of art my picture would not please the pope said quietly it would more probably win his than his patronage smiled the idea of a woman a mere woman imagining that anything which she could do was powerful enough to bring down the strange conceit of these feminine he could almost have laughed aloud but he merely looked her over and i am sorry he said very sorry you should consider such a thing as possible of your work but no doubt you speak on impulse your distinguished uncle the cardinal would be sadly distressed if your picture should contain anything of a nature to bring you any condemnation from the and your father leave me out of it if you please interrupted prince t have nothing whatever to do with l the master christian works with a free hand none of us have seen what she is doing not even you oh i laughed carelessly no indeed i have not the least idea of the subject or the treatment i a mystery then said still preserving his bland of but permit me to express the hope that when the veil is lifted a crown of may be disclosed for you thanked him by a silent inclination of her head and in a few minutes the stately spy had taken his leave as he disappeared the cardinal rose from his chair and moving somewhat feebly prepared to return to his own apartments dearest uncle will you not stay with us to night or are you too tired asked as she came to his side he raised her sweet face between his two wrinkled hands and looked at her long and earnestly dear child he said dear brave little child for you must always be nothing more than a child to me tell me are you sure you are moved by the right spirit in the painting of your picture i think so answered gently indeed indeed i think so i know that according to the teaching of our master christ it is a true spirit i slowly the cardinal released her and slowly and with impressive earnestness traced the cross on her fair brows god bless you he said and god help you too for if you work by the spirit of truth the remember it is the same which our lord tells us the world cannot receive because it him not neither him arid to testify of a spirit which the world cannot receive makes the world very hard to you and with these words he gently leaned on the arm she proffered and left the with her the rich glow and folds of his scarlet robes vividly with the simple black gown which wore without other than a rose to relieve its as she went with her uncle she looked over her shoulder and ed an a a he in the master christian turn lightly kissed his hand to her and then addressed prince who with the care of a man to whom expense is a consideration was putting out some of the tall lamps that had the dusk of the late afternoon the good cardinal is surely breaking up he said carelessly he looks extremely frail young men sometimes break up before old ones returned the prince is strong enough yet you dine with us to night if you permit said with a graceful salutation oh my permission does not matter said him narrowly whatever gives pleasure to la must needs please me she is all that is left to me now in an exceedingly dull world a at eight we dine nodded and took his departure and the prince for a moment stood hesitating looking at the white covering on the wall which concealed his daughter s mysterious work his tall upright figure stiff and sombre looked as if cast in bronze in the half light shed by the wood fire one lamp was still burning and after a pause he moved from his rigid attitude of gloomy consideration and extinguished it then glancing round to see that all was in order he left the closing its great door behind him five minutes after he had | 33 |
a soft step trod the polished floor and the young holding a lighted entered all alone the flame of the little torch he carried cast a soft golden glow about him as he walked noiselessly through the great empty room his blue eyes lifted to the marble heads of gods and heroes which occupied their different positions on the gilded and set against the walls and presently he paused in front of s hidden work it was but a moment s pause and then still with the same light step and the same bright glow reflected from the flame that glittered in his hand he passed through the room lifted the velvet at the other end where there was another door leading to the corridor connected with the cardinal s apartments and so disappeared meanwhile the had been nearly a fortnight in rome living a sufficiently curious sort of life and passing his time in a constant endeavour to avoid being discovered and recognised by any of his numerous acquaintances who were arriving there for the winter his chief occupation was of course to watch the and he was rewarded for his pains by constant and glimpses of her sometimes he would see her driving wrapped in her tiny dog curled up in a fold of her and on her lap a knot of the fresh scent of which came to him like a sweet breath on the air as she passed once he almost met her face to face in the gardens of the villa walking all alone and reading a book in which she seemed to be deeply interested he made a few cautious about her and learnt that she lived very quietly that she received certain great people especially and who was a constant visitor but of any closer admirer he never gathered the slightest rumour till one afternoon just when the sun was sinking in full crimson glory behind the dome of st peter s he saw her carriage come to a sudden halt on the and she herself leaned out of it to shake hands with and talk to a tall fair man who seemed to be on friendly terms with her it is true she was accompanied in the carriage by the famous but that fact did not the sudden flame of jealousy which sprang up in s mind for both ladies appeared equally charmed with the fair man and their countenances were radiant with pleasure and animation all the time they were in conversation with him when the carriage resumed its round again the sauntered by a side path where he could take quiet observation of his apparent rival who walked the master christian past him with a firm light step looking handsome happy and confident there was an old man the path and of him asked carelessly do you know who that gentleman is the gardener looked up and smiled ah si si ii ii lee a then an english author not that all english authors are considered in rome italian society makes very short work of art and its doors against mere english street but was more than an author he was an influential power in the world as the well knew a great religious and yet a victim to the little he mused well i the two things will not work together though truly would a john or a i really think i really do begin to think that rather than lose her altogether i must marry her and he went back to the obscure hotel where he had chosen temporarily to reside in a meditative mood and as he entered was singularly annoyed to see a outside announcing the arrival of and his whole french company in rome for a few nights only the name glared at him in big fat red letters on a bright yellow ground and involuntarily he muttered d n the fellow can i go nowhere in the world without coming across him irritated and yet knowing his irritation to be foolish for after all what was the famous actor to him what was there in his personality to annoy him beyond the trivial fact of a curious personal resemblance he retired to his room in no pleasant humour and sitting down began to write a letter to asking her to be his wife yet somehow the power of expression seemed lacking and once or twice he laid down his pen in a fit of abstraction wondering why when he had sought as a lover only he had been able to write the most passionate love phrases full of and poetry and now when he was about to make her the offer of his whole life hu sentences were commonplace and cold te the master christian he tore up what he had been writing and paced the room impatiently the fact is i shall make a bad husband and i know it he said candidly to himself and will make a great mistake if she me he walked to the window and looked out his hotel was not in a fashionable or frequented quarter of rome and the opposite view of the street was anything but dirty women idle men lounging along with the gait which is common to the italian half naked children running hither and thither in the mud and screaming like tortured wild animals this kind of humanity pictured against the background of ugly modem houses such as one might find in a london back made up a cheerless prospect particularly as the blue sky was clouded and it was beginning to rain one touch of colour brightened the scene for a moment when a girl with a yellow handkerchief tied round her head passed along carrying a huge flat basket overflowing with of purple and as caught the hue and imagined the fragrance of the | 33 |
flowers he was surprised to feel his eyes smart with a sudden sting of tears the picture of with her child like head fair hair and deep blue eyes floated before him she was fond of and whenever she wore them their seemed to be the natural of her sweet and personality she is much too good for me he said half aloud to be perfectly honest with myself i know i have no of character and i cannot imagine myself remaining constant to any woman for more than six months and the best way is to be perfectly straightforward about it he sat down again and without taking any more thought wrote straight from the heart of his present humour addressing her by the name he had once bestowed upon her i am here in rome and this brief letter is to ask without or apology whether you will do me the infinite honour to become my wife i confess to you honestly n o c ti the master christian tion on your part for i am not to be relied upon i repose do confidence in myself therefore i will leave it to you to measure my audacity in making the suggest that you should place a lifetime s confidence in me but with all my heart as much as i know of it at the present i to show you what respect so poor a life as mine can give to one who deserves all tenderness as well as trust if i may hope that you will pardon my past follies and with regard to you if you can love me well enough to wear my not too exalted preserve my remaining stock of honour me to your presence and i will endeavour by such devotion and fidelity as in me lies to one for whatsoever offence i may have given you previously by my too passionate pursuit of your beauty yours unless you decide my fate otherwise de thrusting this note into an envelope he hastily sealed it but decided not to post it till late at night in that might only receive it with the early morning when her mind was fresh and by any or events of a long day and to pass the time he strolled out to one of the many or which abound in rome a somewhat famous example of its kind in the choosing a table where he could sit with his back turned towards the door so as to avoid being seen by either strangers or possible friends he took up the and ordered a of the wine for which that particular house has long been celebrated he sat there about half an hour thus quietly reading scarcely hearing the loud voices and louder laughter of the men who came and went around him when suddenly the name caught his ear it was spoken carelessly and accompanied with a laugh quietly laying down his newspaper he sat very still in his chair keeping his back turned to the groups of wine who were gathering in large numbers as the evening advanced and listened the most delicious little in the whole a said a man s voice the master christian white to the lips the looked around are there any men here he asked the crowd about him with a young fellow stepped forward at your command i you served me once i shall be happy to serve you now quickly shook hands with this friend he recognised in him a young italian officer named an acquaintance of some years back to whom he had chanced to be useful in a pressing moment of need thanks arrange everything for me will you and as quickly as possible it is nearly midnight now said in a low tone shall we say five or six in the morning yes anything you like but quickly then raising his head he addressed in distinct tones you have greatly insulted and a lady whom i have the honour to know i have struck you for your lie and consider you worthy of no further treatment save a in public gentlemen do not as a rule condescend to meet their paid servants actors and the like in single combat but i will do you that honour and with these words he bowed to all present and left the scene of noisy disorder out in the streets the moonlight lay in broad silver bands like white glistening ribbon spread in shining across the blackness and there was a moisture in the air which dropped as it were fresh from the surrounding hills cooled s flushed face and burning brows he walked rapidly he had a vague desire in his mind to see again if possible he knew where she lived and he soon turned down the street where the quaint old central balcony of the d thrust itself into the moon rays among the angels wings and he saw that the windows were open pausing underneath he waited hesitating full of strange thoughts and stranger regrets how poor and seemed life as he regarded it now now the master christian voluntarily placed it in what had he done with his days of youth and prime away every valuable moment thrown to the winds every costly opportunity spent his substance on light women who had kissed and clung to him one day and him the next well and after his heart beat thickly if he could only see for a moment hush there was a murmur a voice a ripple of sweet laughter and moving cautiously back into the shadows he looked yes there she was clad in some soft silvery stuff that gathered a thousand from the light of the moon her fair hair caught up in a narrow of | 33 |
diamonds and her sweet face purely against the dark worn stone of one of the carved angel wings but was with her whom recognised at once by the classic shape of his head and bright curly hair the man whom he had seen that very day on the with a jealous at his heart saw that held the soft of feathers which served for a fan and that he was lightly waving it to and fro as he talked to her in the musical all potent voice which had charmed thousands and would surely not be without its fascination for the sensitive ears of a woman moving a little closer he tried to hear what was being said hut spoke very softly and answered with equal softness so that he could catch no distinct word yet the mere tone of these two voices melted into a harmony more and perfect than could be endured by with composure and uttering an impatient exclamation at his own folly he hastily left his retreat and with one parting glance up at the picture of fair loveliness above him walked swiftly away returning to his hotel he saw the letter that he had written to lying on the table and he at once posted it then he began to prepare for his encounter with he dressed quickly wrote a few business letters and was about to lie down for a rest of an hour or so when the swift and furious galloping of a horse s hoofs awoke the echoes of the quiet street and almost before he had time to what had happened his friend stood before him breathless and wild with excitement you ar tucked i he cried everything is the master christian prepared seconds pistols all but your man your man has gone gone exclaimed furiously where out of rome in a common taking his latest mistress one of the stage women with him they were seen driving by the towards the half an hour ago he dare not face fire bully and coward that he is i i will go after him said promptly half an hour ahead you say good i will catch him up can i get a horse anywhere take mine said eagerly he is perfectly fresh just out of the stable have you weapons yes and the unlocked a case and two placed them in a travelling then turning to he shook hands thanks a thousand times there are a few letters here see to them if i should not come back what are you going to do asked his excitement beginning to cool a little now that he saw the possible danger into which was voluntarily rushing persuade the worthy either to come back or fight at once on whatever ground i find him and assume to be a gentleman for once said carelessly and without further words he hurried off and tossing a twenty piece to the sleepy hotel porter who was holding s horse outside he flung himself into the saddle and galloped away young and was of too a disposition to anticipate any really serious results of the night s adventure his contempt for a coward was far greater than his fear of death and he was delighted to think that in all probability the would use his riding whip on s back rather than honour him by a pistol shot and so all fears from his mind he took s letters in his charge and went straight out of the hotel singing gaily charmed with the exciting thought of the midnight chase which was going on and the possible and discomfiture of the celebrated meanwhile under the flashing stars and t j the master christian sleeping streets of rome the galloped with almost haste he was a daring rider and the spirited animal he soon discovered the force of his governing touch the resolve of his urging speed he went by the remembering s hurried description of the route taken by the actor and felt rather than saw the outline of the villa as he rushed past and the of st le which is supposed to cover the tomb of the st then across the till two miles further on in the white radiance of the moon he perceived driving rapidly ahead of him the vehicle of which he was in pursuit letting the reins fall loosely on the neck of his straining he raised himself in his and by his own movements assisted the animal s now perfectly reckless gallop and at last hearing the flying hoofs behind the driver of the became seized with panic and thinking of possible and how to them he suddenly pulled up and came to a dead halt a head was thrust out of the carriage window s head and s voice shouted in bad italian what are you stopping for rascal on with you on with you five hundred for your best speed scarcely had he uttered the words when the gained the side of the vehicle and pulling up his horse till it almost fell in backwards he cried furiously tu vas te sur je te and he struck his riding whip full in the actor s face springing out of the confronted his his hat was off and his countenance marked as it was with the crimson line of the lash lightened with laughter again le je he said one cannot escape it better to with you beau than with destiny i am ready at once dismounted and tied his horse to the knotted bough of a half withered tree taking his pistols out of their he proffered them to choose he said or use your own if you have any but mine are v a x ours arc i the master christian play no theatrical tricks | 33 |
on such a stage as this and then he gave a comprehensive wave of his hand towards the desolate waste of the around them and the faint blue misty lines of the hills just with silver in the rays of the moon at the first sight of the pistols the driver of the who had been more or less till now by the suddenness of the adventure gave a sort of cry and climbing down from his box fell on his knees before and then ran a few paces and did the same thing in of the imploring both men not to fight not to get killed on account of the trouble it would cause to him the coachman and with a high shriek a lady flung herself out of the recesses of the closed vehicle and clung to the actor s arm mon mon what is it you would do she cried be killed out here on the and not a soul in sight not a house not a shelter and what is to become of me me and she tapped her heaving bosom in style have you thought of you you laughed tearing off the lace veil which she wore wrapped loosely round her head and shoulders you what is to become of you the same fate will attend you that all such little of the perhaps a dozen more lovers after me then old age and the care of a third class lodging house for broken down actors here he chose his weapon at your service a whose chief stock in trade had been her large dark eyes and legs uttered a desperate scream and threw herself at the feet of the think for a moment this combat is out of rule you are a gentleman a man of honour would you fight without seconds it is murder murder here she broke off terrified in spite of herself by the of s attitude and the coldness of his eyes i regret to pain you madame he said stiffly this combat was arranged according to rule and myself some hours th master christian it seems he did not intend to keep his engagement i intend to keep mine the in the fight are here seconds are as their name a secondary matter we must do without them by no means exclaimed we have them here they arc you will you be my second how often you have me in many a devil s game and d un you will for once in your life support the honour of a and with these words he seized the unhappy roman cab driver by the collar of his coat and flung him towards who took not the slightest notice of him as he lay huddled up and wailing on the grass but merely stood his ground silently waiting however was not so easily disposed of throwing herself on the cold ground thick with the dust of dead she clung to pouring out a torrent of french largely with a special of the paris streets and broken by the hysterical when she saw her protector throw oflf his coat and standing in his shirt sleeves take close observation of the pistol he held is this your care of me she cried what a thing is a man here am i alone in a strange country and you your life for some quarrel of which i know nothing yet you pretend to love mc de what is your love you do well to ask said laughing carelessly what is my love a passing fancy we actors love too well to ever feel it out of the way jou jou your life will be amusing so long as you keep a little de after that the house he pushed her aside but she still clung to his arm victor victor she will you not look at me will you not kiss me wheeled round and stared at her amazed kiss you he echoed would you care you are a little mad the moonlight is too much for you to morrow i will kiss you when the sun rises or if i am not here why somebody else will who is the m te l i x she the master christian demanded springing up from her crouching position with flushed cheeks and flashing eyes looked at her with admiration i wish you would have looked like that sometimes on my stage he said you would have brought down the house woman no woman at all but women the of them the of them women the madness of them women the one woman when the one woman exists but then we generally kill her now once more out of the way time flies and le is in haste he has many fashionable engagements he flashed upon her a look from the bright eyes that were potent to command and difficult to resist and she back trembling and sobbing as the advanced you are ready he ready shall we say twelve paces excellent deliberately dug his heel into the ground and measured twelve paces from that mark between himself and his then with cold courtesy he stood aside for to assure himself that the was correct the actor complied with this formality in a sufficiently composed way and with a certain grace and dignity which might almost have taken for bravery if he had not been so convinced that the man was acting still in his mind and was going through a part which he disliked but which he was forced to play and with it all there was something about him something familiar in the turn of his head the glance of his eye the movement of his body which annoyed because he saw in all | 33 |
these little personal touches such a strong resemblance to himself but there was now no time to think as the moment for the combat drew near was still weeping and with the who paid no attention whatsoever to her but remained on his knees out of harm s way be g the and all his patron saints to see him safely with his back to the that all he cared for the master christian we have no one to give us a signal said lightly but there is a cloud on the moon when it passes shall we fire the bowed assent for a moment the moon rays were obscured and a faint sigh from the wind stirred the long dry grass a bat flew by towards the of alexander shadow lay upon the land the so singularly alike in form and feature stood rigidly in position their weapons raised their only witnesses a and a wanton both creatures terrified out of their wits for themselves and their own safety swiftly the cloud passed and a brilliant silver glory was poured out on hill and plain and broken column and as it shone the two shots were fired simultaneously the two bullets through the air a light puff of smoke rose in the it cleared and backwards and fell heavily to the ground stood upright but staggered a little instinctively putting his hand to his breast rushed to the side of her fallen lover victor victor struggled up to a half sitting position the blood was up thickly from a wound in his lungs half as he was he made a strong effort to speak and succeeded not you not you he gasped do not touch me do not come near me him him and he pointed to who still stood erect swaying slightly to and fro with a dazed far oflf look in his eyes but now as the beckoned him he moved to the side of his wounded opponent and there through weakness not emotion dropped on his knees looked at him with staring eyes how i have hated you le he muttered thickly how i have hated you yes as hated for we we are brothers as they were bom of the same father ah you start for uttered a gasping cry yes in spite of your pride your your insolent air of superiority your father m father i the late was no more satisfied vith one v w is l and the master christian had no higher code of honour your mother was a dame mine was a light o love like this feeble creature i and he turned his glance for a moment on the shuddering wailing you were the legal the genius yes genius he broke off struggling for breath do you hear me he whispered thickly do you hear i hear answered speaking with difficulty you have hated me you say hate me no more i for hate is done with and love also am dying he grasped the rank grass with both hands in sudden agony and his face grew livid turned himself on one arm dying you tool by heaven then the must perish i should have fired in the air but but the sins of the fathers what is it here a ghastly smile passed over his features the sins of the fathers are visited on the children what a merciful deity it is to make such an arrangement and the excellent fathers when all the children meet them wonder what they will have to say to each other i wonder a frightful shudder his body and he threw up his arms un d et bon i bon a great sigh broke from his lips through which the blood began to slowly he was dead and whose wound inwardly turned himself wearily round to gaze on the rigid face to the moon his brother s face so like his own he was not conscious himself of any great pain he felt a dizzy languor and a as of dreams but he knew what the dreaming meant he knew that he would soon sleep to wake again but where he did not see that the woman who had professed to love had already rushed away from his corpse in terror w the to drive her quickly the master christian scene of combat he nothing save the white on the still face of the man who in god s sight had been his brother fainter and still fainter grew his breath but he felt near his heart for a little knot of lace which he always carried a delicate trifle which had fallen from one of s pretty evening gowns once when he had caught her in arms and sworn his passion he kissed it now and its violet perfume as he took it from his lip he saw that it was stained with blood the heavy languor upon him grew heavier and in the dark haze which began to float before his eyes he saw women s faces some beautiful some devilish yet all familiar he felt himself sinking sinking into some deep abyss of shadows so dark and dreary that he shuddered with the icy cold and horror till came yes s soft eyes shone upon him full of the pity and tenderness of some divine angel near god s throne an angel of sweetness an angel of forgiveness ah so sweet she was so so trusting so fair so in those exquisite ways of hers which had pleaded with him prayed to him tried to draw him back from evil and him to noble thought ways that would have persuaded him to his flag of honour from the mud | 33 |
of social vice and folly and lift it to the heavens white and pure ah sweet ways sweet voice sweet woman sweet possibilities of life now gone forever again that sinking that icy chill his eyes were yet he forced himself to open them as he sank back heavily on the and then then he saw the great white moon descending on him as it seemed like a shield of silver flung down to crush him by some angry god he muttered i never much i loved you till now his eyes closed a little smile on his mouth for a moment and then the shadow fell and he lay and pallid in the moonlight close to the brother he had never known till the last hour of life had revealed the bond of blood between them side by side they lay strangely alike in death men to whom the possibilities of noble living had been abundantly given and who had wasted all their substance on vanity for victor despite his genius ix ax i of his art was the master christian not likely to be longer remembered or mourned than the the fame of the actor is even less than that of the great noble the actor s name is but a on the air which a breath and the heir to a proud house is only remembered by the flattering inscription on his forgotten greater than any living monarch had mixed their bones with the soil where these two sons of one father lay dead the bright moon was their lamp the stars their funeral the width of the their and the heavens their pall and when the two terrified witnesses of the fatal fight the position and saw that both had truly perished there were no regrets no no prayers no thought of going for assistance with the one selfish idea uppermost that of escaping immediate trouble rallied her scattered wits and dragging the praying and cab driver up from his knees she bade him mount his box and drive her back to the city he prepared to obey but not without the horse which the dead had so lately ridden and taking some trouble to attach it to his vehicle for his own uses for if we do this they will never know he muttered with chattering teeth a horse is always a horse and this is a good animal more valuable than the men and when they find the men that is none of our business in in with you i will drive you into the that is if vou give me a thousand instead of the five hundred your man promised me i otherwise i will leave you here a thousand shrieked oh thief you know i am a poor stranger oh mon u do not murder me this as the driver having her into the vehicle and shut the door now shook his dirty fist at her oh what a night of horror j yes yes z thousand anything only take me back to rome satisfied in his own mind that he had her sufficiently to make her give him whatever he demanded the driver who despite his native was seriously alarmed for his own safety hesitated no longer and the noise of the dashing wheels and the galloping y j the master christian loud echoes from the road and dull from the as the with two horses now instead of one out of sight and then came silence the awful silence of the a silence like no other silence in the world brooding like darkness around the dead xxiv the next morning dawned with all the strange half glow of light and colour common to the italian sl of pink warmed the gray clouds and dazzling lines of blue suggested the sun without declaring it and who had passed a restless and night rose early to go on one of what her society friends called her eccentric walks abroad before the full life of the city was up and stirring she who seemed by her graceful and elegant just a butterfly of fashion and no more was truly of a dreamy and poetic nature she had read very deeply and the and joys of humanity presented an ever varying problem to her refined and mind she was just now interesting herself in subjects which she had never studied so closely before and she was gradually arriving at the real secret of the highest duty of life that of serving and working for others without consideration for a great love was teaching her as only a great love can a love which she scarcely dared to admit to herself but which nevertheless was beginning to lead her step by step into that mysterious land half light half shadow which is the nearest road to heaven a land where we suffer gladly for another s sorrow and are joyous in our own because another is happy to love one greatly means to love all more purely and to find heart room and sympathy for the many sorrows and of those who are not as uplifted as ourselves for the true mission of the divine passion in its form is that it should and inspire the soul bringing it to the noblest issues and for this it must be associated with respect as well as passion no true soul can love what it does not sincerely feel to be worthy of love and the brilliant little whose warm heart had been so long was if not yet crowned by the full of love still gratefully aware of the wonderful colour and interest which had od ti n si d the master christian suddenly come | 33 |
asks you to be his wife well dear child is not that what you had a right to expect from him yes perhaps but i cannot not now i oh no not now murmured and her eyes wet with tears were full of an infinite pain but i me do you not love him stood silent gazing before her with each perplexity and sorrow in her face that her faithful grew anxious and troubled child do not look like that she exclaimed it cuts me to the heart you were not made for sorrow dear we were all made for sorrow said slowly sorrow is good for us and perhaps i have not had sufficient of it to make me strong and this is real sorrow to me to refuse but why refuse him if you love him asked madame bewildered sat down beside her and put one soft arm round her neck ah that is just my trouble she said i do not love him now when i first met him he attracted me greatly i confess he seemed so gentle so courteous and above all so true but it was seeming only i and he was not anything of what he seemed his courtesy and gentleness were but a mask for apparent truth was but a disguise to e the master christian reckless and passion i had to find this bit by bit and oh how cruel was the how i prayed for him wept for him tried to think that if he loved me he might yet endeavour to be nobler and truer for my sake but his love was not great enough for that what he wanted was the body of me not the soul what wanted of him was the soul not the body so we played at cross purposes each with a different motive and gradually as i came to recognise how much and there is in mere how poor and paltry an animal man becomes when he serves himself and his passions only my attraction for him diminished i grew to that i could never raise him out of the mud because he had lived by choice too long in it i could never persuade him to be true even to himself because he found the ways of falsehood and deceit more amusing he did unworthy things which i could not with all my admiration for him over or excuse in fact i found that in his private life and code of honour he was very little better than and as you know one cannot receive he is in rome also said madame i saw his name in the streets only yesterday and also outside one of the leading theatres he has brought all his company here to act their for a few nights before proceeding to how strange he should be here i said how very strange he is so like the so very like i used to go to the theatre and frighten myself with the different points of resemblance be the rough copy of s and i always saw in the actor what the gentleman would be if he continued to live as he was doing whose are a disgrace even to the stage who in his position of actor manager takes advantage of all the poor ignorant struggling creatures who try to get into his company and whose vain little heads are turned by a stray compliment and to think that the should be merely the better bom copy of so mean a villain i ah what useless tears i have shed about h how i have grieved and worried myself all in vain i nd now k the master christian now he asks you to marry him said madame gently and you think it would be no use you could not perhaps make him a better man neither i nor any woman could said i do not believe very much in men if they need to reform they must reform themselves we make our own lives what they are dear little philosopher said madame tenderly taking s small white hand as it hung down from her shoulder and kissing it you are very depressed to day you must not take things so seriously t if you do not love the as you once did as i once did ah yes said i did love him i thought he could not be otherwise than great and true and noble hearted but she broke off with a sigh well and now that you know he is not the hero you imagined him all you have to do is to tell him so said the practical cheerfully or if you do not want to pain him by such absolute give him his refusal as gently and kindly as you can sighed again i am very sorry she said if i could have foreseen this perhaps but did you not foresee it asked madame persistently did you not realize that men always want what they cannot have and that the very fact of leaving paris increased his and sent him on here in pursuit was of a very truthful nature and she had not attempted to deny this suggestion yes i confess i did think that if i separated myself altogether from him it might induce him to put himself in a more honourable position with me but i did not know then she paused and a deep flush her cheeks did not know what madame softly hesitated a moment then spoke out bravely i did not know then that i should meet another man whose existence would become ten times more interesting and valuable to me than his yes i confess it there is no shame in honesty i and so to be to | 33 |
more and retired gazed around her vaguely the letter of her dead admirer grasped in her hand and his former letter proposing marriage lying still open on the table her old watched her anxiously the tears rolling down her cheeks you are crying ft et you the master christian knew him very little he never loved you i wish i wish my tears would come but they are all here aching and me and she pressed her hand to her heart you see when one is a woman and has been loved by a man one cannot but feel sorry for such an end you see he was not altogether cruel he defended my name and he has died for my sake for my sake oh for my sake so he did love me at the last and i oh i i wish the tears would come and as she and uttering a little like of a wounded bird dropped senseless xxv the death of the famous actor was a days wonder and about a three weeks regret he had made no reputation beyond that of the clever he was not renowned for he had made no mark in dramatic literature and his memory soon sank out of sight in the whirling ocean of events as completely as though he had never existed there was no reality about him and as a natural consequence he went the way of all had even his study of his art been sincere and high had he sought for the best the greatest and most perfect work and represented that only to the public the final judgment of the world might perhaps have given him a comer beside or but ie conceit of him united to an mind was too great for the of the universal spirit of things which silently in the course of years the last verdict on a man s work only a few of his own profession remembered him as one who might have been great had he not been so little and a few women laughed lightly recalling the of his and said ce that was all and for the mortal remains of de there came a lady grave and pale clothed in deep black with the s white band crossing her severe and tranquil brows and she placing a great wreath of fresh gathered from the woods and marked in sorrow from on the closed coffin escorted her melancholy burden back to paris where in a stately marble vault to the solemn sound of singing and amid the of funeral with torn battle drooping around his and other fragments of chivalry the last of the once great house of was laid to rest with his fathers little did the austere who was the chief at these g ess that the actor whose g ve had been hastily dug in rome had also a right to be laid the master christian in the same marble vault proud and cold and stern as her heart had grown through long years of pain and it is possible that had she known this her sufferings might have been still more but the secret had died with the dead so far as the world went there remained but the eternal record on which the bond of brotherhood was inscribed and in that eternal record some of us do our best not to believe notwithstanding the universal secret dread that we shall all be confronted with it at last meanwhile events were moving rapidly and the net of difficult circumstance was weaving itself round the good cardinal in a manner that was strangely to his clear and just mind he had received a letter from in civil terms to the effect that as the cardinal s miracle of healing had been performed in france he as on service in paris found it his duty to thoroughly into all the details for this cause he trusted it would suit the cardinal s convenience to remain in rome till the return of secretary to the of who had been despatched back to that city on the business connected with this affair thus and cardinal reading between the lines of his letter knew that the displeasure of rome had fallen upon him as heavily as it did upon the eloquent and liberal minded when he made the mistake of asking a blessing from heaven on the king and queen of italy for their works of charity among the poor and he easily perceived where the real trouble lay namely in the fact of his having the s public confession out of the one thing there was an effort being made to contrive mischief with the other and being too frail and old to worry his brain with complex arguments as to the how and why and wherefore of the carried on at the resigned himself to god and his mind with meditation and prayer waited events patiently caring little how they ended for himself provided they did not involve others in any catastrophe moreover there was a certain consolation contained in his enforced waiting for his niece had confided to him that the work of her g l the master christian picture had advanced more swiftly than she had ne possible and that it was likely she would be able to show it to her relatives and private friends in the course of a week or so but must see it first she said of course you know that i must always be first yes and the cardinal her hair tenderly while his eyes rested on her with rather a troubled look yes of course first i suppose he will always be first with you after god always she answered softly always god and sighed | 33 |
he knew not why except that he was always sorry for women who loved men with any very great exaltation or devotion that adoration of a true woman s heart which is so often wasted on an unworthy object seemed to him like lifting a cup of gold to a swine s he found na actual fault with he was just a man as men go with nothing very pronounced about him except a genius for fine like painting he was not a great creator but he was a delicate and careful artist z man against whom nothing particular could be said except perhaps that his manner was often artificial and that his conduct was not always sincere but he had a power of fascinating the opposite sex and had fallen a willing victim to his candid smile clear eyes and courteous ways and with that strange so common to gifted women she was so full of soul and over soul herself that she could not imagine soul lacking in others and never dreamed of making herself sure that it elevated the character or temperament of the man she loved alas the love of women it is known to be a lovely and a fearful thing for all of theirs upon that die is thrown and if tis lost life hath no more to bring during the time that matters were thus in rome well satisfied with himself and the importance of being with a special message from the to the of returned i k the master christian to the capital with many ambitious speculations in his brain and schemes for improving the position of confidence with which he had by the merest chance and the of the pope s hun our been suddenly thrust he took the family by surprise on the evening of his arrival in and much to his secret satisfaction found in their company the children were gone to bed and the appearance of in papa s kitchen was evidently not altogether the most agreeable circumstance that could have happened at the hotel he was received however and when he expressed his pleasure at seeing madame present that worthy female lifted her eyes from her knitting and gave him a suspicious glance of exceeding i do not see what pleasure my company can give you she said i am only a poor but you have been singularly favoured by the protection and confidence of a great cardinal began protection confidence echoed de what is the man talking about i never set eyes on the cardinal in my life but that he cured my is enough to make me think of him as a saint for ever though it seems there are some that would almost make him out to be a devil for having done a good deed i and ever since my boy was cured i have lived a life of torture and trouble yes truly tom between two things our blessed lord and the church but i am trying my best to keep fast hold of our lord whatever the church may do to me dear me said turning with a smile and air to who sat silently smoking madame seems a little what shall we say excited yet surely the recovery of her child should fill her with and make her a faithful and devout servant pardon interrupted madame believe me is thankful enough and devout enough but truly it has been very hard for her to suffer the things that have been said to her of late how that the child could never have been really crippled at all the master christian simply how that it was all a trick got up between herself and the priests for the purpose of bringing visitors and their money to for of course since the miracle was abroad there have been many to dame it having got about that there was some mysterious spirit or angel in one of the for look you our when he came to visit the cardinal here in this very hotel distinctly remembers that his eminence assured him he had heard strange music in the cathedral when truly there was no organ unlocked and no on duty and then there was something about the boy that his eminence found lost that night stop stop said growing impatient your eloquence is so impressive madame and you say so much that is excellent in one breath that you must pardon my inferior capacity in not being able to follow you quite there are conflicting statements you say no there are none said himself drawing his pipe out of his mouth slowly and looking intently at its well sucked stem it is all the same sort of thing a child is sick a child is cured and it is either god of the devil who has done it some people prefer to think it is the devil give the praise to god it was exactly like that whenever our lord did a good deed half the folks said he was god the other half that he had a devil was like is like was ancient and wicked is modem and that s all as for music in the church we have only the s warrant that the cardinal ever said anything about hearing music only the s warrant echoed i said only make the best of it answered sticking his pipe into his mouth again and his smoke with undisturbed tranquillity and he was irritated yet vaguely amused too at the singular self assertion of these common folk who presumed to take their moral of an it is a strange fact but these same common folk always do take these sorts of the master christian the if there are any in the story will soon | 33 |
be cleared up he said with a benevolent assumption of authority at least i hope so i am glad to say that i am with a message to the arch bishop from our holy father the pope and i have also his s instructions to request you madame together with your son to accompany me back to rome up from her chair and let fall her knitting me me she cried me go to rome never wild horses will not drag me there nor shall you take my either what should i do in rome testify personally to the truth of the cardinal s miracle answered gazing coldly at her excited face as though he saw something altogether strange and removed from human semblance and bring your child into the holy presence and relate his history it will be nothing but an advantage to you for you will obtain a patient hearing and the boon of the grand said but i have lived more than half my time without the and i can work out the rest of my days in the same way look you there is a great english duke i am told who has an only son sorely afflicted and he has taken this son to every place in the world where the church is supposed to work miracles for the healing of the sick and the helpless all to no use for the poor boy is as sick and helpless as ever how is that what has the done for him woman your tongue your senses said with rising temper you rail against the church like an ungrateful heathen even though you owe your son s recovery tr the church for what is cardinal but a of the church stuck arms and surveyed him oh hi cried my tongue my senses e take care that your cunning does not ie yourself did i ever deny the worth and the goodness of cardinal though if i were to speak the whole truth and if i were to believe the master christian nonsense talk of a child i should perhaps give the credit of the miracle to the stray boy whom the cardinal found outside the cathedral door started for says that he began to feel strong the moment that little lad touched the boy exclaimed the boy a curious silence ensued lifting his drowsy eyes gazed at the ceiling madame his wife stood beside him watching the changes on s yellow face and sat down to take breath after her outburst the boy muttered again then he broke into a harsh laugh what folly i he exclaimed as if a little tramp of the streets could have anything to do with a church miracle if you were to say such a thing at the have not said it said angrily i only told you what my says i am not the thoughts of the child that he is well and that he has the look and the soul of an angel is enough for me to praise god all my life but i shall never say the at the you will have no chance to trap me in that way stared at her you must be mad he said no one wishes to trap you as you express it the miracle of healing performed on your child is a very remarkable one it should not be any surprise to you that the head of the church seeks to know all the details of it thoroughly in order to and confirm it and perhaps bestow new honour on the eminent cardinal i rather doubt that interposed slowly for i gather from our that the holy father was suspicious of some trick rather than an excess of sane through his pallid skin i know nothing of that he said but my orders are imperative and i shall seek the assistance of the to enforce and carry them out for the moment i have the honour to wish you good night and you also and he departed abruptly in an anger which he was at the master christian pains to disguise personally he cared nothing about the miracle or how it had been accomplished but he cared very much for his own advancement and he saw or thought ht jl chance of very greatly improving his position among the authorities if he only kept a cool head and a clear mind he recognised that there was a desire on the part of the pope to place cardinal under close and restraint on account of his having the s confession to his congregation in paris and he rightly judged that anything he could do to aid the accomplishment of that end would not be without its reward and the few words which had let drop concerning the stray boy who now lived under the cardinal s protection had given him a new idea which he resolved to act upon when he returned to rome for it was surely very strange that an eminent prince of the church should allow himself to be constantly attended by a little tramp rescued from the street i there was something in it more than common and decided that he would suggest a close being made on this point crossing the square opposite the hotel he hesitated before turning the comer of the street which led towards the avenue where the s house was situated the night was fine and calm the air singularly and he suddenly decided to take a stroll by the river before finally returning to his rooms for the night here is one very quiet bit of the in where the water flows between grassy banks which in summer are a frequent resort for lovers to dream the dreams which so often come to nothing and here himself to smoke and on the brilliancy of his | 33 |
future prospects the river had been high in flood during the week and the grass which towards the water was still wet and heavy to the tread but limited his walk to the broad summit of the bank being aware that the river just below flowed over a muddy into which should a man chance to fall it would be death and fast burial at one and the same moment and set a rather value on his own life as most men do whose lives are of no sort of consequence to the world so he was careful to walk where there was the least danger of the master christian lit an excellent cigar and puffed the faint blue rings of smoke out into the clear atmosphere he was in a very agreeable frame of mind he was and clever in his way one of those to whom the yankee term would apply in its fullest sense and he had the happy of forgetting his own mistakes and follies and his own sins with as much ease as though he were one of the blood royal of nations vices he had in plenty in common with most men except that his particular form of was distinguished by a and cruelty in which there was no touch of quality as a child he had loved to tear the wings off flies and other insects and one of his keenest delights in boyhood had been to watch the of into whose soft bodies he would stick long pins the would live under this treatment four and five hours sometimes longer and while observing their agonies he enjoyed that contented mind which is a perpetual feast now that he was a man he delighted in human beings after the same methods applied mentally whenever he could find a part through which to thrust a sharp spear of pain the eminent cardinal he mused now what is he to me i if i could force the of into high favour at the instead of this foolish old saint it would be a better thing for my future after all it was at that the miracle was performed the city should have some credit i and bon pre has a he is growing old and feeble possibly he is losing his wits and then is that boy he started violently as a fantastic shadow suddenly crossed his path in the moonlight and a peal of violent laughter assailed his ears en in mon grace a and the creature known as la stood before him her long black hair streaming over her bare chest and gaunt arms her eyes dilated and glowing with the mingled light of madness and despair turned a livid white in the moon rays his blood grew icy cold what i after two years of about the streets of to m tiu this wretched the master christian woman whom he had and betrayed had she found him at last i when did you come back from the fair cried the girl i lost you there you know and you managed to lose me but i have waited waited patiently for news of you and when none came i still waited making myself beautiful see and she thrust her fingers through her long hair throwing it about in disorder than ever you thought you had killed me and you were glad it makes all men glad to kill women when they can but i i was not killed so easily i have lived for this night just for this night listen and she sprang forward and threw herself violently against his breast do you love me now tell me again as you told me at the fair you love me he staggered under her weight and tried for a moment to thrust her back but she held him in a grip of iron looking up at him with her great feverish dark eyes and grasping his shoulders with thin burning hands he trembled e was beginning to grow horribly afraid what devil had sent this woman whom he had ruined so long as two years ago across his path to night would it be possible to soothe her he began yes yes say it again she cried wildly say it again sweet sweet and tenderly as you said it then poor your pale ugly face seemed the face of a god to her once because e thought you loved her we all find men so beautiful when we think they love us yes your cold eyes and cruel lips and hard brow it was quite a different face at the fair so was mine a different face but you you have made mine what it is now look at it what you thought you could murder a woman and never be found out you thought you could kill poor and that no one would ever know hush hush said his teeth chattering with the cold of his inward terror i never killed you i loved you yes listen for she was looking up at him with an attentive almost sane expression in her eyes i meant to write to you after the fair and come to you hush hush said the girl let me hear this i the master christian this is strange news he meant to write to me yet he let me die by inches in an agony of waiting till i dropped into the darkness where i am now he meant to come to me oh it was very easy to come if he had chosen to come before i wandered away into all this strangeness this shadow this confusion and fire but you see it is too late now and | 33 |
she began to laugh again too late i have a strange idea that i am dead though i seem alive i am in my grave and so you must die also and be buried with me yes you must certainly die when one is cruel and false and treacherous one is not wanted in the world better to go out of it and it is quite easy see this way and before he her intention she sprang back a then drew a knife from her bosom and with a sort of shriek him furiously once twice thrice crying out this for your lie this for my sorrow this for your love back with the agony of her blows he made a fierce effort to tear the knife from her hands but she suddenly threw it a long way from her towards the river where it fell with a light splash and rushing at him her arms close about his neck while her mad laughter piercing and terrible rang out through the quiet air she said that day at the fair we were together and now we shall be together again come come i i have waited long enough your promised letter never came you have kept me waiting a long long while but now i will wait no longer i have found you i will never let you go furiously despite his wounds he fought with her tried to thrust her away from him and beat her backwards and downwards but she had the strength of ten women in her frame and she clung to him with the of some savage beast all around them was perfectly quiet there was not a soul in sight there was no place near where a shout for help could have been heard struggling still dizzy blind and breathless he did not see that they were the edge of the slippery bank all his efforts were concentrated in an endeavour to shake off the creature made more powerful in her very madness by the just sense of her burning the master christian wrong and his treachery when all at once his foot slipped and he fell to the ground she on him like a and fastened her fingers on his throat clutching his flesh and muttering never never never can you hide away from me any more i together together i will never let you go till as his eyes rolled up in agony and his jaw relaxed she uttered a shout of ecstasy to see him die i he sank heavily under her fierce g which she never relaxed for an instant and his dead weight dragged her unconsciously down down she not or knowing whither she was moving down still down till as she clung to his body madly not to let it go she fell fast her s corpse into the ominous stillness of the river the flood opened as it were to receive the two the dead and the living there was a slight ripple as though a mouth in the water smiled then the usual calm surface reflected the moon once more and there was no sign of trouble nothing struggled nothing floated all was perfectly tranquil the bells from all the churches in the city a quarter to midnight and their pretty echoes were across the water no other sound disturbed the silence not a trace of the struggle was left save just one track of grass and which if examined carefully might have been found sprinkled with blood but with the morning the earth would have swallowed those drops of human life as silently as the river had sucked down the bodies of the betrayed and the in neither case would nature have any hint to g ve of the tragedy nature is a dumb witness to many and it may be that she has eyes and ears and her own way of keeping records sometimes she gives up long buried secrets sometimes she holds them fast her time until the judgment day when not only the crime shall be disclosed but the cause of the crime s and it may chance in certain cases such as those of men who have deliberately ruined the lives of trusting and loving women that the cause may be proved a more criminal thing than the crime that night slept badly and had horrible dreams of being dragged by force to rome and there taken before the pope who at once deprived oi the master christian son and ordered her to be shot in one of the public squares for to attend mass regularly and and his wife on their virtuous couch conversed a long time about the unexpected and unwelcome visit of and the mission he had declared himself with from the and you may depend upon it said madame that he will get his way by fair means or foul i am thankful that neither of our children were subjects for a church miracle the trouble of the remedy seems more troublesome than the sickness no no said her husband thou dost not judge these things rightly my little one god worked the remedy as he works all good things and there would be no trouble about it if it were not for the men s strange way of taking it did ever our rd do a good or a kind deed without being for it did not all those men fools in go about secretly seeking how they might betray him that is a lesson for us all and never forget that for showing them the straight way to heaven he was the next day a was despatched from the of to at the visited | 33 |
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